Loves True Meaning
by mewtwofangirl
Summary: When two girls from America move to Japan, they meet a girl named Kagome Higurashi and quickly befriend her. Soon, they find themselves going to her home to celebrate her fifteenth birthday, and wind up in the Feudal Era...wait, what!
1. Prologue

Prologue: The Hanyou Named Inuyasha and the Maidens that Overcame Time Itself

_"Come on, get real you guys! You don't honestly believe what Sota says about our well being cursed, do you? What happened to the oh so brave Kagurai sisters?" the fifteen year old girl with raven hair asked, raising an eyebrow. The two Americans exchanged a worried glance._

_"Well. . . It IS kind of creepy in here, Kagome." ts he red haired girl stated, eying the well behind her friend warily. The blonde girl next to her nodded in agreement._

_"Too true! So can we please just get the cat and go back up to the house, please?" she said, her sapphire eyes also fixed on the well. Kagome scoffed._

_"I told you! Trinity, Alina, there's nothing to be scared of, so will you please get down here and help me look for Buyo? That dumb cat has to be in here somewhere." Trinity, the red head, rolled her blue-green eyes and sighed._

_"Fine. But if anything freaky happens, I'm blaming you, Higurashi." she stated matter-of-factly. Kagome rolled her eyes in a "whatever" sort of way as Trinity came down the steps, her sister in towe._

_"Trin, I have a bad feeling." she mumbled. _

_"Lina, chillax. I'm sure we'll be fine. Kagome's right. There's nothing to be afraid of. We were just being-" Trinity didn't have a chance to finish her speach of reassurance, because something broke through the boards sealing the top of the well and grabbed all three of them, yanking them into the well. That something was a centepede demoness. It tried to devour them, but somehow, Kagome had managed to push it away, allowing them to escape. _

_When they surfaced from the well, the three were no longer in Kagome's storeroom, but in the middle of a deep forest. Trinity gave Kagome an annoyed look._

_"This is SO your fault." she stated. Of course, she was ignored, as Kagome decided to climb out of the well to look around. Alina sighed and helped her sister out of the well._

_"Come on, Trin. Look at the bright side. This place is beautiful. Plus, who knows? Maybe we'll end up having a great adventure here." she said. Trinity snorted._

_"Adventure? Yeah, right."_

_Of course, the beginning of this so-called "Adventure" wasn't quite what Alina had in mind. The three of them ended up getting captured by a group of hunters and taken to a nearby village. There, they were met by the village's head priestess; an elderly woman named Kaede. When they had explained their situation, Kaede told them of the legend of the Forest of Inuyasha. On the tree that Kagome had been standing on, there was an inu hanyou; a half dog demon sealed by the power of a sacred arrow. He had been trying to steal the Shikon no Tama when the previous head priestess had stopped him. But because of an injury she had obtained, she died. And for fifty years, the half-demon boy had been sealed. When Kaede had finished her tale, Trinity kept thinking back to the young man with the long silver hair and dog ears, his haori red like blood. In a way, she felt sorry for this Hanyou called Inuyasha. However, she didn't have long to dwell on her sympathy, because the demoness from before had returned, and was attacking the village. _

_It hadn't been long before Trinity, Alina, and Kagome had found themselves back in the forest of Inuyasha. While they were running, Kagome had fallen to the ground. Trinity and Alina wasted no time in rushing to aid her._

_"What's the matter Kikyo? Normally you would have no problem with a demon like her." the trio looked up to find out where the male voice was coming from. What they saw was a pair of golden eyes staring down at them, their owner smirking coldly._

_"I'm not Kikyo! My name is Kagome!" Kagome snapped irritably up at him. Before Inuyasha could make a remark back to her, the body of the centepede coiled fast around them, pinning all of them to the tree, against Inuyasha. _

_Despite how the situation seemed, the centepede was defeated by Inuyasha; who Kagome had set free from the fifty year old seal. This didn't bode well for Trinity, however, as when she picked up the sacred jewel (which had somehow shot out of Kagome's side) Inuyasha began to chase her, determined to end her life and take the Shikon no Tama. If it hadn't been for the power of Priestess Kaede, he would have succeeded. With her power, the old priestess had managed to place a set of magic beads around the hanyou's neck. To Kagome, she said,_

_"Quickly child! Subdue his fury!" And so, Kagome shouted the only thing she could think of. And those subduing words that saved Trinity's life were:_

_"SIT BOY!" With a *WHAM!* a very confused (and extremely aggrivated) Inuyasha faceplanted into the bridge that he had Trinity cornered on._


	2. Chapter 1

a/n: First of all, I own nothing but the OCs! Sceond, i forgot to mention it in the prologue, but this fic is based off of the oneshot that Shikenkino Shio made for me.

One: Almost Like a Family

Several months had passed since that fateful night. The day after the girls had met Inuyasha, Kagome had accidentally shattered the Shikon no Tama, and so, the four of them had to team up to get the shards and repair the sacred jewel. Along the way, they had met many new friends. First, there was Shippo, the little fox demon. He had tried to steal their shards of the jewel to take vengence on two demons called the Thunder Brothers for murdering his father. Inuyasha had defeated them, and the group took Shippo under their wing. Next was Miroku, a lecherous monk with a curse called the Wind Tunnel placed on his right hand by an evil demon that had grown to become a common enemy to all of the members of the team. Eventually, the Wind Tunnel would expand and consume Miroku. Then there was Sango. She had lived in a village of demon slayers until the same demon who cursed Miroku had used trickery to kill the other slayers and kidnap her younger brother, Kohaku. Sango's twin tailed cat demon Kirara was also part of the team. And then of course there were the friends and aquaintences outside of their group. There was also Sesshomaru; Inuyasha's older half-brother, who was a full dog demon. Each time they encountered him, he would try to kill Inuyasha and steal the Tetsusaiga, a powerful sword that Inuyasha had inherited from thier father. With Sesshomaru was his vassal, an Imp demon called Jaken. He. . .was just obnoxious. Then there were Koga, Ginta, and Hakakku. They were the only survivors of their wolf demon tribe. If it hadn't been for Kagome's first aid skills, the wolf demon prince and his pack mates wouldn't have made it at all. Of course, much to everyone's (Inuyasha's especially) annoyance, Koga had fallen in love with Kagome, and the poor girl often had to deal with the wolf prince's continuous flirtations whenever they met up. But all in all, (as far as Trinity's point of view was concerned, at least) the three groups had sort of become a "partial family" in a way. But, perhaps it was mostly because all three goups had one enemy in common: The demon named Naraku. Because of him, so many awful things had happened. It was Naraku who killed Sango's family, cursed Miroku, killed Koga's pack, and even tricked Sesshomaru once and killed the priestess Kikyo over fifty years before. Granted, Kikyo was back, but she wasn't technically alive. She had to use the power of serpent-like demons called Soul Collectors to sustain life, and she had tried to kill Kagome and Trinity and stole the Sacred Jewel shards that Kagome had. . . only to give them to Naraku.

"Yo, Trinity! Wake up!" Upon hearing the voice of her best friend, Trinity, opened one eye and yawned.

"You WOULD be the one to wake me up when I'm having a good dream, wouldn't you, Inuyasha?" she complained. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Feh. Whatever. Kagome told you that we were wakin' up earlier than usual. Get up."

". . . no." Inuyasha prodded the defiant teenager with his foot.

"C'mon. What, do I have to carry you?" Trinity smirked and closed her eyes again.

"Maybe." she replied. Inuyasha sighed and prodded her again.

"Man, you can be lazy. Trinity, if you don't get up, we'll leave you here." Upon hearing this, Trinity sat up and stuck her tongue out.

"You're such a killjoy, Inuyasha. Why do we have to head out so early, anyway? It's not like we have any new leads. Besides, I wasn't completely asleep. I was...thinking about something." she said. The half-demon arched an eyebrow.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked, his ears twitching. Trinity stood up, smirking secretivly as she walked past him.

"Oh, nothing, really." she replied. Inuyasha gave a growl of annoyance.

"C'mon! Don't keep secrets from me!" he complained. Trinity stopped walking.

"Do you promise not to make fun of me?" she asked, turning to him. Inuyasha nodded and Trinity exhaled.

"Fine. I was thinking. . .about how much has changed since my family moved to Japan." Inuyasha blinked.

"Whaddya mean?" he asked. Trinity rolled her eyes.

"Well, for starters, Lina and I never really had many friends in America, and when we moved to Japan and met Kagome, that changed almost instantly. Before we knew it, we met you, Shippo, Miroku, Sango, and Kirara. And then...there's Koga and his companions Ginta and Hakkaku." she said with a hint of distaste at the end. It wasn't so much that she had anything against Ginta and Hakkaku. She thought the two of them were nice. It was Koga she had a problem with. In her eyes, he was no different than one of the many arrogant preppy pretty-boys at her old school who thought they were all-that.

"What about Koga?" Inuyasha growled. Trinity sighed.

"Well, even though Koga is...less than tolerable, there have been a couple occasions where he's helped at least ONE of us...kind of." she said. Inuyasha snorted

"Like when?" The red haired girl rolled her eyes.

"Well, how about the other day when I went for a walk and you guys didn't listen when i told you, so you had NO clue i was gone, and HE had to save me from a boar demon?" she said. Inuyasha's eye twitched. He remembered that afternoon alright. He was arguing with Kagome when Trinity took off. He heard a scream about an hour later and when he had finally reached her, sure enough, there was Koga, mocking him. The bastard!

_"A little slow, aren't you, Mutt? If I hadn't shown up, Kagome's friend here would have been killed. Maybe I should just take 'em all off your hands. After all, This girl and her sister WOULD make suitable mates for Ginta and Hakkaku, and we both know Kagome is MY woman." _

_"Grrrr...like hell you scrawny wolf!" _

"Yeah, so what? It's not like I MEANT for you to end up in danger. Kagome's the one who started the stupid argument!" he said defensively. Trinity sighed.

"That's hardly the point i'm trying to make, Inuyasha. You're my best friend, but sometimes you just...you know what, forget it." she said, storming off. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Feh...women..." he mumbled.

**Later that day...**

"Trinity-chan, how come you're not walking beside Inuyasha like you usually do?" Miroku asked. Trinity sighed in annoyance.

"Because he...Miroku, if you don't take your hand off my ass, you won't have to worry about that wind tunnel anymore, because I'll cut the damn thing off! ...thank you. The reason I'm not walking with Inu-baka is because he got a little agrrivating this morning. I need to put some distance between him and me for a while." Miroku chuckled, earning him a glare from the fifteen year old red head.

"What's so funny?" she demanded. Miroku looked up at her.

"Ah, gomen, gomen. I was only thinking of how the daily routines go within our group. Although YOU being cross with any of us is new, the way we seem to act around eachother is..."

"Almost like a family." Trinity finished, nodding in agreement.

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what did Inuyasha do to make you angry in the first place?" Trinity stopped to think.

"Huh. Now that a few hours have gone by, i don't remember." she admitted, shrugging. Miroku sighed exasperatedly.

"You can't be serious? Well, you may want to talk to Inuyasha. He's no doubt brooding, as usual." Trinity nodded.

"I'll give it a try, but you know how Inuyasha-kun can get when he's mad. Promise you'll give me a propper burial after he kills me?" she said semi-jokingly. Miroku laughed and gently pushed her forward. Trinity glared back at him before walking beside Inuyasha.

"Hey, Inuyasha?"

"What?" came the irritated reply. Trinity winced.

"I'm sorry about going off on you earlier. I know you get enough of that from Kagome as it is. The sad thing is, i don't even remember WHY i got so cross with you." Inuyasha's ears twitched in silent aknowledgement. For several moments as the group walked, Inuyasha said nothing, then,

". . . whatever." Despite his choice in wording, Trinity knew Inuyasha well enough to know that it was his way of saying, "It's cool." Satisfied with knowing that, Trinity decided to bring up another topic.

"Hey Inuyasha, do you think...all of us are like a family?" Inuyasha seemed surprised by the question, but her shrugged.

"Meh. I guess. . . .as much as I hate to admit it. Why? What brought it up?" he inquired. Trinity shook her head.

"Nothing. Just wondering." she said.

A/N: Gomenasai! I'm SO sorry those of you who read the prologue had to wait for chapter 1. i promise there will be more action and comedy in chapter 2 when the Inu group runs into Koga's pack (dun dun dun!) and for those of you who are reading this fic, arigato!


	3. Chapter 2

Two: A Reluctant Alliance and Trinity's Nightmare

"Gggrrr...What'd you say, Muttface?" At this, Inuyasha placed his hand on his Tetsusaiga.

"You wanna go, ya Scrawny Wolf?" Trinity sighed.

"Will you two give it a rest! Inuyasha, don't pull your Tetsusaga, Koga isn't worth it." she said in exasperation. Koga turned his anger towards her.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You wanna start something, too, Wench?" he demanded. Trinity sighed again.

"That's NOT what I'm getting at, you idiot! I'm just saying that I think we should be teaming up and working together to find Naraku instead of quarelling with EACHOTHER!" Then, to Inuyasha, she added,

"And that goes not only for you and Koga, but you and your idiot brother, too!" Koga scoffed.

"I don't need to team up with a mutt! I'M gonna defeat Naraku!" he boasted. Inuyasha glared at him.

"What? YOU? As if, you scrawny wolf! You can't even defeat Kagura, and SHE'S weaker than Naraku!"

"Grrr! That is IT! Don't you IDIOTS understand? If we don't team up, NO ONE is going to be defeating Naraku!" Everyone turned, surprised at Trinity's sudden outburst. Koga's eyes widened.

"Whoa...your eyes..." he said. Trinity turned to him.

"What? What about my eyes?" she asked, blinking. Koga was taken aback. He could have SWORN he just saw her pupils turn to slits.

". . . They've just...got a LOT of fire in 'em, for a woman like you. Fine, if Mu- I mean Inuyasha doesn't object, I guess our pack will start traveling with you."

"Like he- fine. Whatever." Trinity sighed, relieved that her persuasions had worked. Of course, it didn't hurt that like her, Kagome was also giving them both a warning glare.

"Good. Well, it's getting late. I think we should set up camp before it gets too dark." Kagome said.

"Of course Kagome. Whatever you want." Koga said, taking her hands in his.

"grr….You damn wolf!"

"Can it, mutt!" Trinity sighed. This was going to be a long day.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Alina looked up in surprise as someone splashed her from the left.

"H-hey! I'm trying to fill my canteen!" she said in annoyance.

"Sorry. I didn't see you there." Ginta apologized. Alina looked at what he and Hakakku were doing curiously.

"What are you two up to, anyway?" she asked. Ginta looked up at her.

"We're trying to catch some fish for everyone." He replied. Thinking a moment, the blonde girl reached beside her and took a katana out of a black and silver sheath and stepped into the water carefully. Lifting her sword, she waited patiently until a fish was swimming past her ankles, and…

SPLASH!

The wolf demons looked up at the sixteen year old in surprise as she grinned triumphantly at the fish flopping around on the end of her sword.

"That's amazing! But how is it you were so quick?" Hakakku asked. Alina shrugged and tossed the fish up onto the bank.

" My dad. He taught me and Trinity a lot of interesting survival tips. That was just one of them." She replied. A scoff sounded behind her, making her turn and glare.

"Do you have a problem with it, Koga?" she growled.

"Swords are meant only for the battlefield. Only a WOMAN would think to use a blade so carelessly. That's why women shouldn't wield swords." The Wolf prince remarked. Alina glared up at him furiously.

"You want to come down here and say that, you mangy canine?" she snapped. Koga clenched his fists in absolute fury.

"You wench! How dare you talk to me that way! Someone should put you in your place." He snarled, charging at her. But before he could move, Alina was already behind him, sword at his throat.

"If you move, I'll cut your throat." She said with deadly quietness in her tone.

"You…bitch." Koga growled.

"Admit the error of your sexist arrogance and I'll step off, wolf prince. So, shall we call a truce?"

". . .Fine." Koga said begrudgingly. Alina backed away from him and stepped back into the water.

"I should warn you, Koga, I don't take crap like that from any man. Demon, or not. And if you ever say something like that to Trinity and I hear about it, I'll castrate you before I kill you." She said before returning to fishing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey, Koga,"

"What?" Trinity recoiled slightly. He sounded angrier than usual.

"Are you okay?" she asked. Koga shot her a glare, but said nothing. Sighing, Trinity spoke again.

"I brought you some dinner. I noticed you weren't over by the fire with everyone else, so…"

"I don't want it." Koga replied shortly. Trinity frowned.

"If you don't eat, you're not going to be of help to anyone in the fight against Naraku. You. . .you want to be able to protect Kagome, don't you?" she pressed. Reluctantly, Koga took the food she held out to him.

"Mind if I sit over here and eat? Between Kagome and Inuyasha being in a bad mood and you being in a bad mood, I feel safer with you. Kagome can get freaking scary when she's mad."

"Sit! Sit! SIT!"

*Wham! Wham! WHAM!*

Trinity flinched.

"See?" Koga chuckled slightly.

"Sure, I guess you can eat over here with me. But, aren't you gonna go check on the mu…err..Inuyasha?" he asked. Trinity glanced behind her to see a VERY angry Kagome yelling at the hanyou. Turning her head back, she said,

"Nope. If I die, I want it to be fighting Naraku, NOT getting in Kagome's way when she's on a PMS-induced rant. Koga blinked.

"PMS?" Trinity shook her head.

"Never mind." She said.

"BOO!" With a yelp, Trinity leapt forward onto Koga, knocking them both to the ground and making their lips meet. Alina laughed.

"I got you! You need to be more alert, Sis. Ahahahahahaha!" Trinity looked up and was about to retaliate when something strong gripped her arm and pulled her off of Koga.

"No offense, but you should probably go take a bath now, Trinity. I don't want you sleepin' next to me reeking like that scrawny wolf." Inuyasha said. Koga stood and glared at Inuyasha.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, you mutt? You reek worse than I do! And what the hell do you mean "sleeping next to you"? It's not enough that you're messing around with that priestess behind Kagome's back, but you gotta go after another woman, too?" Inuyasha growled in response.

"Grrrr! Shut the hell up! It's not like that, you damn wolf! I don't really have a choice in the matter! Since day one, Trinity has always chosen to sleep next to me! It ain't like I tell her to do something so troublesome!" he defended.

"Basically, she uses him as a pillow at night." Alina added with a laugh. Trinity pouted slightly. Now that they brought it up, she realized that what Inuyasha said was true. Only, the first night wasn't really intentional. Closing her eyes a moment, she thought back to that memory.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

_Inuyasha growled in slight annoyance._

_"Shouldn't you be over there with the other two, wench? What the hell are you doing over here by me?" he snapped. Trinity winced slightly, but dropped her pillow and blankets next to him, nonetheless._

_"Well, I wanted to come over here. I was hoping we could talk." She said, shrugging as she sat down. Inuyasha let out a small "feh" sound and rolled over so his back was facing her._

_"Thought you'd be scared of me by now." He muttered._

_"Because you tried to kill me? Well I admit I was kind of scared of you at first, but at the same time, I'm confident you won't kill me. Besides, Inuyasha-kun, if I was still afraid of you, I wouldn't have come back with Kagome and Alina." The hanyou scoffed._

_"Confident I won't kill you, huh? What makes you so sure about that?" he demanded, turning back to face her. Trinity crawled under one of her blankets and threw the other over Inuyasha._

_"Well, since we got back this morning, you've had a lot of opportunities to kill me when it was just the two of us; no Kagome to stop you. But you didn't, did you?" When Inuyasha said nothing, Trinity smiled and hugged him, startling him._

_"Wh-what the hell…?" he managed to say. Trinity giggled._

_"Goodnight." She said, laying down. Inuyasha growled in frustration._

_"Hey, wait a minute! Don't you dare fall asleep, wench! I want to know what the hell you hugged me for!" he snapped. Trinity opened one eye._

_"Because I gave Kagome and Alina goodnight hugs, and I wanted one from you too. Goodnight, Inuyasha-kun. Sweet dreams. See you in the morning." She replied before drifting off._

**_The next morning. . ._**

_Inuyasha blinked his eyes a few times to see that Trinity had rolled off of her pillow and was snuggling against him; or more so, using HIM as a pillow._

_"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled. Trinity moaned tiredly and just snuggled closer to him._

_"It got cold last night, so I got a little closer to you to keep warm." She mumbled. Inuyasha's eye twitched._

_"A "little" closer? You're CLINGING to me, dammit! Get offa me!" he yelled, trying to push her away. But, no matter how many times he got lose, she would just reattach herself to him again. Sighing in defeat, Inuyasha laid back down._

_"Damn troublesome wench…" he grumbled._

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity wasn't sure when it was that Inuyasha finally gave up for good on trying to pry her off of him (if she had to make a guess, she'd say it wasn't long after Miroku was added to the group) but in all honesty, she couldn't help sleeping next to Inuyasha at night. Besides, it wasn't like he was the ONLY one she slept next to. Sometimes she slept next to Kagome and Sango, too. (there was no way in hell she'd sleep next to Miroku, and Alina would keep kicking her in her sleep.) The only differences were, she never woke up using Sango or Kagome as pillows; and unlike when she slept beside the hanyou, she would sometimes have nightmares when sleeping next to Kagome and her demon slayer friend. So, all this time, he thought she was troublesome, and he didn't say anything until now? Feeling slightly offended, Trinity turned away.

"If you think I'm troublesome, you should've said something earlier. If that's how you feel, I'll stop sleeping next to you at night." She said, walking back to the camp fire and sitting next to Sango.

"Are you alright?" Sango asked. "You seem a little depressed." Trinity sighed.

"It's just Inuyasha being a jerk. That's all." She replied; regretting it a moment later when Kagome murmured,

"Sit boy!"

*Wham!*

Trinity flinched. No doubt he would know that it was her fault.

"Gyah! What the hell did you tell her, Trinity?" Oh yeah, she was in trouble.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity tossed and turned in her sleeping bag. She was so used to sleeping next to Inuyasha, it was difficult for her to sleep alone. She had contemplated sleeping next to Sango, but Sango was pretty irritated; just like Kagome was. Only, Sango was mad at Miroku for looking up Alina's skirt earlier. And Kagome. . .well, while Trinity liked Kagome, she wasn't in the mood to sleep by her at the moment.

"What're you doin' over here by yourself? Don't you think it'd be warmer if you slept by one of your friends?" Trinity looked up at Ginta.

"I would, but my sister kicks me in her sleep, Miroku's a pervert, Kagome and Sango aren't in the mood for me to be sleeping by them tonight, and I'm trying not to sleep next to Inuyasha anymore." She said tiredly.

"Well, you can come sleep with us. If you don't mind being close to wolves, that is." Trinity sighed.

"No, I like wolves. It's my sister that's never been too keen on them." She mumbled.

{_May as well._} she thought as she picked up her blanket and stood, following Ginta. At the sound of two sets of footsteps, Koga opened his eyes and looked up.

"What's she doin' over here?" he asked. His tone wasn't angry, merely curious.

"I told her she could sleep with us tonight. Is that okay, Koga?" Koga sighed and closed his eyes again.

"I don't care." He muttered.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

_Trinity looked around her. She was inside a strange manor._

_"Hello?" she called. "Anyone here?"_

_"T-Trinity? My god, Trinity, is that you?" Trinity froze. That voice. . .could it be. . .? Sure enough, when the teenage girl turned around, she saw a man with long red-orange hair tied back in a ponytail. His eyes were the same color as hers, and the feudal era clothing he wore were torn and covered in old bloodstains. _

_"F-father….?" She asked. The man nodded, and when he moved his head, she saw. . ._

_"You have fox ears? Are you. . .are you a half-demon?" she asked uncertainly. The fox hanyou nodded again, embracing his daughter._

_"Trinity, I've missed you kids and your mother so much." He said, a few tears streaming down his face. "I've been trying to escape the place in which I'm being held, but I'm afraid I've had little to no success. I will return to you though, I promise." Trinity's grip on her father tightened._

_"Dad. . .is Naraku the one who's holding you prisoner?" she asked, buying her face in his haori. Before the hanyou could speak, a voice in the darkness chuckled darkly._

_"Well, Tsubakimaru. . .who would have guessed you would have made a dream connection with your daughter." Trinity turned and glared._

_"Naraku, you bastard! Where the hell are you hiding?" she demanded angrily. Naraku laughed again. Trinity turned to her father._

_"Father, we'll save you from Naraku, I promise!" she said, hugging him close. Naraku chuckled again as Tsubakimaru began to disappear from his daughter's embrace. Trinity looked up in despair._

_"No, Daddy, no. Please don't go! Don't go! No!" But try as she might, she could do nothing. She then turned on Naraku venomously._

_"Bastard! What did you do to him?" she demanded._

_"I've merely awoken him, Trinity. I haven't killed him. . .yet." Trinity's pupils turned to slits._

_"You son of a bitch! If you hurt him anymore, I'll-" _

_"You'll what, Trinity? You have no power against me, you aren't even as strong as a HALF demon! A mere quarter demon like you has no chance in defeating me." Naraku said, chuckling darkly as he disappeared. _

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Koga grunted and looked down at Trinity as she unintentionally elbowed him in her sleep. He twitched and looked at her curiously as she then began talking in her sleep.

"Father. . .I promise. .. to find you. . ." she murmured. Koga moved to wake her, but stopped when she murmured,

"Damn you to hell. . .Naraku." He would have left her be, but when she started sobbing in her sleep a moment later, he shook her gently.

"Hey." Trinity gasped and sat up, heart pounding. Koga grabbed hold of her arm when she reached for the sword at her belt.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. It's only me. Calm down." He said, trying to sooth her. Sighing shakily, Trinity laid back down.

"Sorry I woke you." She said.

"What's the matter? What were you dreamin' about?" Koga asked, also laying back down; secretly amazed that she hadn't woken Ginta and Hakakku as well.

". . .Naraku.. . .Naraku has my father prisoner. I'm going to find him, and I'm going to save him." Trinity replied.

"What's your father's name?" Koga asked quietly.

"Tsubakimaru. He's a hanyou, like Inuyasha. But, my father is a fox hanyou." Koga held in a gasp.

{_No way! This girl and her sister are the daughters of TSUBAKIMARU? The strongest hanyou alive? Damn. Who knew. Even though they're just quarter demons, I should have been able to pick up on the demon scent in their blood._} he thought.

"Did you know before now that-"

"That my dad is a hanyou? No. He always wore a hat; so I never saw his ears. Although, I did always think his teeth looked a lot like fangs. Well, I think we've talked enough tonight. Let's get back to sleep." Trinity said quietly, closing her eyes.

**-the next morning. . . .-**

At the feeling of another body against his and the scent of strawberries, Koga opened his eyes and looked down to see that Trinity was sprawled across the top of him. Sighing, he shook her gently.

"Hey. Trin. Trinity, wake up. You're sleepin' on top of me." Yawning and mumbling a "sorry, Koga", the red head rolled off of the wolf demon, only to roll over and wrap and arm around one of the wolves, snuggling close to it. The wolf opened it's eyes and turned at the contact. Seeing that it was only Trinity, it yawned and turned it's head back, giving her hand a tolerant lick before going back to sleep.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Inuyasha looked around his group's camping spot, somewhat worried.

"What happened to Trinity?" he asked. Shippo looked up at him.

"I heard her get up late last night. I think she went with one of Koga's men to their camping area." He said. Inuyasha's ears twitched in annoyance.

{_Those damn wolves. . ._} he thought with a growl.

"What the hell were you doin' with them?" he demanded when Trinity walked past him.

"I was having trouble sleeping, so Ginta invited me to sleep with the pack." She answered, walking past him.

"Why the hell didn't you just come and lay by me? You usually do." Trinity glanced back at him. She cared about him, but he could be such a moron sometimes.

"Because you think I'm troublesome. I didn't want to be a bother to you anymore." She said.

"You didn't think I meant that, did you? I only said it cuz of that damn Koga." Inuyasha said, blinking. Trinity sighed.

{_Inuyasha, you're such an idiot._} she thought, rolling her eyes.

A/N: Okay, for those of you who want more action, there's going to be a little bit of a fight scene in the beginning of the next chapter, and then more later on in the same chapter.


	4. Chapter 3

Three: Attack of the Demon Bear and the Mystery of the Masked Priestess

"Will you slowpokes hurry it up!" Inuyasha glared ahead at the arrogant wolf demon.

"Shut the hell up, you damn wolf!" he snapped back.

"Or what?" the two were about to fight, but Sango intervened.

"Quiet! Didn't you hear that?" she asked. The two looked at her.

"What're you talking about, Sango?" Inuyasha asked. Trinity drew her sword; Alina following suit.

"I heard it too. It was like a growling sound." Trinity said. Miroku nodded.

"Right. And I also sense a demonic aura close by." Picking up on the scent of the nearby demon, Inuyasha also drew his sword. For several minutes, nothing happened. Then, out of almost nowhere, a large black blur burst through the middle of the group, taking Trinity with it as it passed. When it stopped, the group saw that is was a large black bear demon, and it had Trinity clamped in it's jaws. Each time she moved to fight the demon off of her, it bit down harder, causing more blood to flow from her wound. Inuyasha raised his tetsusaiga.

"Wind-"

"No, Inuyasha! You'll kill Trinity!" Kagome said. Inuyasha turned to her.

"And she'll die anyway if we don't do something!" he protested.

(Trinity's PoV)

Having dropped my sword when I got grabbed, I tried to pry the demon's jaws open with my hands, but I had no success. I knew I was losing a lot of blood, and I was starting to get dizzy. The others couldn't do anything with me in the demons mouth, and I doubted anything they could have done would have helped. This was the end. I was going to die. Or. . .so I thought. Out of my right eye I saw a light that could only be a sacred arrow coming from the demon's blind side. It's mouth opened slightly; enough for me to roll out, but before I could get away, it lunged at me again, biting into my arm from the elbow down and ripping it away from the rest of my body. I cried out in pain as I looked down at the bleeding stump. Inuyasha made to run over to me, but Koga beat him to it, picking me up and carrying me back to the rest of the group. I looked up in time to see a woman wearing a priestess' kimono and a clay mask with a black fur wig to hide her entire head. Around her shoulder was a large leather satchel. Her weapon was a bow made of what I could only guess was demon bone. She fired another arrow at the demon, making it even angrier. It lunged at her, but with speed that made it obvious she wasn't human, she jumped up out of it's reach and fired one final arrow into it's head from above, killing it instantly.

"Filthy beast." I heard her say as she landed back on the ground. I cringed and looked to see Inuyasha using the robe of the fire rat as a compress against my arm, trying to stop the bleeding. The priestess then did something strange. She took a wooden arm out of her satchel and walked over to my severed arm; which had fallen from the bear's mouth. Putting her fingers in the pool of blood surrounding it, she wrote something on the side of the wooden arm before walking over to us. Kagome kept compressing my wound, while the others drew their weapons. The priestess held up a hand.

"Calm yourselves. I mean no harm. Please, let me help her."

"Who are you?" Sango asked, hand on her hiraikotsu.

"I'm only a friend. I cannot tell you my name, but I am the head priestess of the village you are about to come across. If you don't let me do this, she will bleed to death." I reached up with the arm I still had and beckoned for the priestess to come over and do whatever she had to. Miroku looked down at me uncertainly.

"Are you sure you want to trust her?" he asked. I nodded and the priestess knelt beside me, taking the robe of the fire rat from my injury. Cleaning and bandaging the wound, she took the wooden arm and attached it to where my real arm used to be.

"Try moving it now." She said. I flexed my "arm", and surprisingly, it moved as though it was real.

"Thank you." I said. The priestess nodded.

"I only regret not having been able to make it in time to prevent the loss of your arm. I foresaw it in a vision that you would be attacked, but because I couldn't tell WHEN you would be attacked . . . ."

"It's no ones fault but mine. I shouldn't have let down my guard." I assured her; hoping the others would take the hint not to start blaming themselves, too.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(Reg. PoV)

Trinity blinked in confusion as she walked into the inn.

"Hey, what're you guys so down for?" she asked. Sango looked up at her.

"If we had only acted, then you wouldn't have lost your arm." She replied sadly. Trinity placed her hands on her hips.

"Oh come on! I already said I didn't want you guys blaming yourselves for what happened. It was my own fault. I'm still alive, and as far as my arm goes, I'm better off than Sesshomaru." She said with a laugh. When she got no enlightened responses, Trinity sighed.

"Okay, I get it. I'm not meant to be a comedian. But like I said, it's no ones fault. Hell, now that I think about it, it's not even MY fault. That thing came out of practically no where. None of us could have predicted that it-"

"Well if the stupid mutt would have picked up its scent sooner, you would still have both arms, and you wouldn't be such a drag on the rest of us now…." Koga grumbled. Before Inuyasha could say anything, Trinity beat him to it. Smacking Koga hard across the face with her good arm, she said,

"I don't want anyone to blame themselves for what happened to me today, but I do NOT appreciate you using ME as a reason to trash on Inuyasha! It was NOT his fault, and you have some nerve insinuating such a thing!" with that, she stormed out of the inn.

(Trinity's PoV)

I couldn't stop the tears that fell from my eyes as I sat alone beneath the Sakura tree. I WASN'T a drag on the others now! I wasn't. I could still fight just as well as before.

"Why aren't you with my half breed little brother, Wench?" I wiped my tears away, not bothering to look up.

"Get bent, you insufferable prick. I'm not in the mood." I growled. I felt cold steal against my throat.

"Watch how you speak to me, Wench. Inuyasha is too far to arrive in time to save you; should I lose my patience."

"Go to hell, Sesshomaru. Normally I don't mind when we run into you, but like I said, I'm not in the mood today. I didn't sleep well last night, I started my period this morning, and I lost my arm this afternoon…. And my name is Trinity, damn it."

(Reg PoV)

Sesshomaru withdrew his sword and glanced down at her wooden arm.

"What took it?" he asked emotionlessly.

"A bear demon came outta nowhere and grabbed me. If the head priestess of this village hadn't shown up, I would've lost more than my arm. So, what're you doing here?"

"Rin, Jaken and I are merely passing through. . . . I smell wolves. Is that wolf demon traveling with you?" Sesshomaru looked up at the sky, then back at Trinity; who nodded.

"Yeah. You guys should join us, too. If we all work together, we have a better chance of beating Naraku." She said with a shrug. Sesshomaru scoffed.

"I don't need the help of a half breed, a pack of flea bitten wolves, and a group of humans." He replied. Trinity rolled her eyes.

"You forgot to say "and a pair of pathetic quarter demon wenches", Sesshomaru-sama." She said quietly. Sesshomaru arched an eyebrow.

"What do you mean, Wench?" Trinity looked up, her blue-green eyes locked with his amber orbs.

"My father is a half demon and my mother is a human. You see him in me, don't you? My father, I mean. Before we…well, **I **got attacked by the bear demon; Koga told us the legend of the strongest hanyou to ever live. A fox hanyou named Tsubakimaru….my father. Koga said that my father was having a sword battle with you before he came to my world and met my mother. At least, that's what one of the old villagers told him. What was he like when you knew him, Sesshomaru-sama?. . .and will you please call me by my name for once?"

". . . .Stubborn, immature, and self-absorbed." Sesshomaru stated bluntly. Trinity tried to stifle a giggle, but she couldn't.

"Is something amusing, wench?" Trinity nodded.

"I'm sorry, it's just, other than the "immature" part, he sounds like. . .well. . .like how YOU kind of were when we first met. You may want to deny it, and you probably want to cut out my tongue…or worse, but I remember. I just think it's a little funny how you look down on my father's nature in the past, when you're STILL just as stubborn and self-centered as he used to be…and it's Trinity, damn it."

". . .You push your luck far, Wench. Someday you're going to run out." Trinity gave him an "oh please!" look and rolled her eyes. Holding up her wooden arm, she said,

"Little late for that remark. I already lost a limb, didn't I? . . .Hey, I just noticed something. You. . .lost the same arm, didn't you? …and my name is Trinity." Sesshomaru scoffed.

"I don't have time for your nonsense, Wench."

"Stop calling me 'Wench', dammit! I have a name!" Trinity said with a huff. When she looked up to glare at Sesshomaru, he was gone.

"Stupid demon noble…" she grumbled. Then, with a sigh, she laid back against the tree.

"Thank you for cheering me up, Sesshomaru. Even though you didn't intend to." She murmured, closing her eyes.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Guys, it's getting late. The sun will be setting soon. Don't you think we should go find Trinity and tell her to come inside now?" Kagome asked. Alina shook her head.

"No. When my sister gets this way, it's best to let her finish thinking before you disturb her. Whenever she gets this upset, she meditates. Let's just pray that a demon doesn't come after her; for the DEMON'S sake. She doesn't mess around when it comes to her meditation." Miroku gave a nervous laugh.

"I suppose you're speaking from experience?" he asked. Alina nodded.

"Multiple experiences, actually." She replied.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity's eyes shot open as she looked up to see a demon head charging at her. Smirking, she drew her sword from her belt and stood, dodging it's advance and slicing at it, blinding it in one eye.

"Graaghh! Damn human wench! I'll devour you!" Trinity scoffed.

"Like hell you will." She snarled, stabbing it through the forehead, slaying it. When she looked up, she saw Sango and Inuyasha staring at her, jaws dropped; the others just running to catch up and see what happened.

"Why are you guys staring at me?" she asked.

"How the HELL did you do that? That was an exceptionally strong demonic aura coming from that thing, and you killed it without our help! How?" Trinity glared at Koga behind Inuyasha.

"I imagined that it was the most recent person to piss me off, instead of some random demon." She stated bluntly, flinging the blood off her blade before re-sheathing it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When the group had settled down for the night, Alina found herself with a case of energy drink-induced insomnia. Sighing, she stood and went outside. When she passed the Sakura tree that her sister had been sitting by earlier that day, she saw a young woman in a priestess' kimono with long silver hair and white dog ears shining in the moonlight. When the hanyou priestess saw Alina, she beckoned the girl over.

"I don't bite." She said with a laugh as Alina sat down.

"Please don't take offense to this Priestess, but it's odd to see a hanyou wearing those garbs." The Priestess laughed.

"I thought so myself when they made me the Head Priestess of the village." Alina's jaw dropped as she stared into the turquoise eyes of the hanyou woman.

"You mean you're the one that saved Trinity's life?" the priestess nodded.

"I am. If you promise to keep it between us, I shall reveal my name." Alina nodded and the hanyou priestess whispered,

"I am Inuhime; daughter of the former head priestess and the dog demon Inutaichou. My mother saved Inutaichou's life, and in exchange, asked that he only impregnate her with a child to love and care for. I am. . .more or less. . .the middle child among three half siblings. I am. . .countless years younger than Inutaichou's son Sesshomaru, and two months and a day older than his son Inuyasha. I grew up here in this village, and though I was teased by some of the village children, I also had a friend who would defend me. He. . .died of old age, of course, but. . .that all aside, I do not wish for Inuyasha to know who I am; not yet. Will you promise to keep this a secret between us?" Alina nodded and Inuhime smiled.

"How is it Inuyasha hasn't already found out though?" Alina asked. Inuhime picked up the clay mask beside her.

"I rub the powder of incense into the wig of my mask, so as to hide my scent from demons. I know most demons with a keen sense of smell would find it hard to be so close to a scent as strong as incense; but having grown up in a shrine of priestesses, I suppose I've come to find comfort in the smell. . . I'm sorry. That must sound strange." She said, putting the mask back down. Alina shook her head.

"I don't think so. Call me weird, but I know how you feel." She said, standing up. Inuhime also stood and placed her mask back over her face.

"I'm going to return to the shrine now. Goodnight, Alina-chan. Oh! Before you go I should tell you. . .you needn't worry. He will get away this time, but in his escape he will leave something of value to you and your sister." Alina blinked.

"What do you mean?" she asked. Under her mask, Inuhime smiled secretively.

"You'll see soon. I cannot reveal much more than that." she said, walking away.


	5. Chapter 4

Four: Naraku's Latest Trap; Knowledge of the Mirror of Hearts

Trinity's eyes shot open as she woke in a cold sweat, cringing at the pain emanating from her injury.

{_Whatever pain killers that priestess gave me must've worn off…_} she thought, gasping. Inuyasha's ears twitched and he rolled over to face her.

"What's wrong? You okay?" he asked. Trinity; not wanting to show weakness; nodded.

"Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep, Inuyasha." She replied. Inuyasha frowned.

"It's your arm, isn't it?" Trinity clenched her fist.

"I said I'm fine." She repeated; an unintended harshness in her voice. Sighing, she stood.

"I'm going for a quick walk. I'll be back in a little bit." She said, exiting the room.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Inuyasha."

"….."

"Inuyasha, wake up! Trinity left and never came back last night!" Inuyasha sat up and looked up at Sango and Miroku.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Miroku nodded.

"Yes. Shippo said he over heard her telling you she was going, but when we all woke up this morning, she wasn't over here with you like she usually is." He replied. Inuyasha jumped to his feet.

"Damn it!"

"Just like I said Mutt. She's become a burden for the rest of us." Koga remarked. Kagome turned to him angrily.

"Koga! Don't be so harsh! Look, I'm sure she had a perfectly good reason for staying out all night. We'll just go look for her and ask her about it. Come on, I'm sure she's somewhere nearby." She said, glaring at the wolf-demon.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

When Trinity woke up, she was in a field of dark blue flowers.

"About time you woke up, sleepy head. I was wondering how long you were going to nap there." Trinity blinked and looked up to see Inuyasha sitting beside her, grinning playfully.

"Inu…Inuyasha?" she asked uncertainly as she sat up.

"Duh. Who else would it be? You feelin' okay?" he asked, kissing her forehead. Trinity blushed and backed away.

"Inuyasha, wh-what're you….?" She managed to squeak. Inuyasha blushed and scratched his cheek.

"Well. . .I figured that if I want to be your boyfriend, I need to act like it. I know you love me, and I'm sorry it took me so long to realize it and feel the same. To make up for it, I'm going to try to be more affectionate with you." He said, looking up at the sky. Trinity blushed.

{_B-boyfriend? What? B-but. . .I-I don't like Inuyasha like that! And besides. . .even if I did. . .he. . ._} Trinity pushed those thoughts aside.

"Inuyasha, what about Kagome . . .and Kikyo?" she asked, looking away. Inuyasha blinked.

"You don't remember? Yesterday. . .Kagome and I got into another fight about Kikyo. You stepped in, like always; and defended me, so she said she was going home for a few days. I'm sorry; I should've seen it before. How you always seem sad when I bring up Kikyo when we talk; even though you told me I could turn to you for anything….. How you always took a swing at Koga when he called me a mutt…. How you always seemed to glow whenever I praised you in battle…. How you seemed to only want to sleep beside me when we camped….. Even though Kagome and Kikyo would always try to convince me to use the jewel to become a human.,,,,, when I asked you what you thought, you said that you wanted me to be whatever made me happy. And whenever I became human during a new moon, you never went home like Alina and Kagome sometimes did. You refused to leave my side. And I remember one time when you were sick with a really bad fever. So sick you couldn't sleep. Do you remember what you asked me?" Trinity turned red, but nodded.

"I asked if I could rub your ears and play with your hair so I could relax. Because you let me do that, I fell asleep within minutes. You took care of me while Alina and Kagome went back to go to school. You even made me some sort of medicinal soup that your mother used to make for you when you weren't feeling good. You even hummed me a lullaby one of the times I got sick, too." She said quietly, smiling shyly at the memory. Inuyasha grinned and wrapped his arms around her.

"Remember the day that Kagome used these damn beads so much, that my neck was sore for most of the day, so you took some of your pain killer stuff and used it to massage my neck?" he asked. Trinity sighed.

"How could I forget? That was the day that YOU fell asleep on ME when we were sitting in the Sakura tree. I still remember how cold the water was, and I'm still glad we weren't up that high. How you managed to push me off the limb we were sitting on STILL remains a mystery to me." She remarked. Inuyasha gave her an apologetic smile.

"I said I was sorry, didn't I? Remember the time when you and I had to fight the demon hawk ALONE because none of the others were around; and when it spread its wings, the force was so strong it knocked you into me and we ended up kissing, and until Sango showed up, we almost…well….you know….?" Trinity was about to speak, but then she pulled away from Inuyasha.

"Wait a minute. . .that was only a dream. . .and I never told anyone about it; not even Alina, and I would never tell YOU about it! . . .What's going on here, Inuyasha? . . .Or should I even call you that? Who are you really? WHAT are you?" she demanded, standing up and backing away. When she reached for her sword, she found that it wasn't at her waist. Cursing silently, she looked up at the Inuyasha imposter; who now had pitch black eyes. He took hold of her wrist roughly.

"**_You wish to know who I am? WHAT I am? Then I shall tell you, Girl. I am the demon of the Mirror of Hearts. I create the perfect world for the people I trap inside. Deep in your heart, you want the hanyou to yourself. As long as you remain here, it shall be done._" **He said, pressing his lips roughly to hers. Trinity struggled to break free, but soon, her mind was consumed by the demonic power of the illusion the demon had cast upon her.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(Alina's PoV)

I looked around the forest to see that I had been separated from Inuyasha and the others. Cursing silently, I drew my sword at the sound of rustling leaves. When I looked up, I saw Sesshomaru emerge.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

(Sesshmaru's PoV)

Needless to say, I was confused. This girl; only moments ago, was standing naked in a hot spring, beckoning me to her. And now here she was, sword drawn and looking at me as though this was our first encounter today.

"I should be asking you that very question. What may I ask were you hoping to accomplish by attempting to seduce me?" I demanded.

(Alina's PoV)

Seduce him? What the hell would I try to seduce HIM for? That made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

"I don't know what kind of plants YOU'VE been smoking, Sesshomaru, but there's no way in HELL I would ever try to seduce you." I said in annoyance.

"Is that right? . . . .Interesting. We must have fallen into one of Naraku's traps. There is a strong demonic aura surrounding us, but I'm not picking up the scent of any demons." When I looked around, then back towards Sesshomaru, he was gone, and I was surrounded by a strange fog.

"Sesshomaru!" I called. I must've called the bastard's name out for over an hour before getting a response.

"You needn't yell. I'm right here." I turned and glared.

"Why'd you vanish all of a sudden?" I demanded, arms crossed.

(Reg. PoV)

Sesshomaru grabbed Alina by the waist and pulled her close.

"I'm not sure what you mean, Woman. I just now came to find you because you were calling out my name." he said, biting her ear lightly. Alina gasped and pulled away.

"Wh-what the hell? What are you doing?" she demanded, heart pounding.

"Isn't it obvious, Woman? I'm claiming you as my own. I want you as my mate." Alina scoffed and backed away.

"I am NOT your property! And why the hell would you want to mate with ME, anyway? I'm more human than demon! And what makes you think I would agree to mate with you?"

"Don't fight your desires, woman. I see the way your eyes follow my every move whenever our paths cross." Alina scoffed.

"Th-that's only because I know better than to turn my back on someone so dangerous!" she stammered.

"Woman, you talk too much." Sesshomaru said, forcing his lips upon hers.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Koga looked around in confusion.

"Wh-what the hell….?" He couldn't see anything in the fog he was surrounded by.

"Koga, there you are! Thank goodness!" Koga gasped as both Trinity and Kagome ran to him, burying their faces in his chest.

"Wh-what's wrong? Hey!" Trinity looked up at Koga with tears in her eyes.

"We thought. . .well. . .we thought that something happened to you. Kagome here told me that when you guys came to find me, you disappeared." She said, hugging him.

"We're so happy we found you." Kagome added, also hugging him. Koga blushed.

"H-hey, there's no need to have worried. I just got a little turned around in all this fog, that's all." He said, smiling down at them. The girls each placed a kiss on his cheeks, making him blush even more.

"We're glad." Kagome said.

"Because. . .we're both in love with you, Koga." Trinity added.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Inuyasha sighed in relief.

"There you are. . ." he murmured, walking over to the red haired girl and picking her up.

"Trinity, you had us all worried sick." He said, shaking her softly. Trinity groaned tiredly and opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I didn't mean to worry you and the others. I must've fallen asleep. But I wish you hadn't woken me." She said with a yawn.

"Why not?" Inuyasha asked. Trinity smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips, startling him.

"Because I was dreaming about you." She said, giggling. Inuyasha turned bright red.

"Wh-what was with that kiss? You're actin' weird, Trinity." He stammered, putting her down. Trinity frowned.

"How am I acting weird? You mean you never noticed before? Inuyasha, I love you. I always have. But because of Kagome. . .and Kikyo. . . well, I knew I could never be as beautiful or strong as them, so I kept my distance. But. . .soon, I got so sick of being happy with just being friends. Inuyasha, since the moment we met, I knew you were going to mean a lot to me. But. . . I never knew it would go this far. Inuyasha, I love you, and I would do anything to be with you. Kagome and Kikyo. . .they're not right for you! Inuyasha, Kikyo is always trying to drag you to hell, and Kagome. . .well. . .even though she's my friend. . .sometimes I hate her. She abuses the power of the cursed beads around your neck, and she gets mad about you going to see Kikyo when she's near us, without considering how YOU feel about it! I know what I've said so far has sounded selfish, and I know what I'm ABOUT to say is only going to add to that, but. . .even though I want you to be happy, at the same time, I wish you would stay a half demon because I love you for who you are. Inuyasha. . . I'm sorry if I'm upsetting you. I just. . . I couldn't contain my feelings anymore." As Trinity began to cry, Inuyasha held her.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't have to be upset. Trinity. . . I. . ."

"INUYASHA! FIGHT IT, INUYASHA!" Inuyasha blinked and looked up to see the masked priestess aiming one of her arrows at Trinity.

"What are you-?" the masked priestess said nothing, she merely fired her arrow and hit Trinity through the chest.

"Dispel your illusions, demon of the Mirror!" she snarled. "Trinity" gave a cry of pain and vanished.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity gasped and shook her head, now free from the spell the demon had put on her. Looking around, she saw Inuyasha and the others looking around, trying to figure out what happened. Even SESSHOMARU was there!

"What happened to us?" she asked. The priestess who had saved her before pulled her and the others to their feet one by one.

"You were all hypnotized by the power of the Heart's Mirror; a demon object. Only by shattering the mirror was I able to break the spell upon you all. Unfortunately; or fortunately; however you wish to look at it, your memories of what illusions the mirror showed you have been eradicated along with the mirror itself." She said. Kagome turned to her.

"Thank you, Priestess." She said. The priestess nodded.

"This was a trap set by Naraku, no doubt. You'd best be careful. Goodness knows what ELSE that devious cretin has up his kimono sleeves." She said, walking away.

"Priestess, what is your name?" Sesshomaru asked. The Priestess stopped.

"It's Inuhime, Sesshomaru-sama." She replied as she continued walking.


	6. Chapter 5

**a/n: I give my thanks to 'risen truth rutheless lies' for the contribution of the OCs "Yuki/Snow" and "Ame" and also for "Kaze/Breeze"; who makes her appearance later. **

Five: Alina's Secret, Pieces of the Puzzle, and Tsubakimaru's Escape

Naraku sighed in annoyance and looked away from his Saimyosho.

"Damn. That hanyou miko is going to be quite a problem. So. . .she's the daughter of the late InuTaishio? Interesting. I suppose before I can kill your daughters and the others, I'll have to kill the priestess, ne, Tsubakimaru?" the kitsune slammed angrily against the bars of his cell.

"You bastard! You lay one finger on my girls, and I'll rip you apart!" Naraku glanced at the fox hanyou and gave a bored scoff.

"Empty words, coming from someone in a cage. Perhaps instead of killing them, I'll make them my mates. They seem exceptionally strong, considering they aren't even half demons. They'd be perfect for birthing my heirs. And aside from their strength, they have much more to offer; as they are both quite breathtaking." Tsubakimaru's eyes went black with rage.

"You Heathen! My girls would NEVER allow someone as disgusting as you to touch them!" he snarled. Naraku chuckled darkly.

"We shall see. Tsubakimaru…." He replied.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey Inuyasha, can I join you for a minute?" Inuyasha shrugged and Trinity sat beside him.

"I want to apologize. I was frustrated about Koga calling me a burden. . .and also about my own weaknesses. . .and I had no right to take it out on you. I'm sorry, Inuyasha." She said, standing up and walking back to join Kagome and the others.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So how'd it go?" Sango asked as Trinity sat down. Trinity shrugged.

"Well, I apologized for taking out my anger on him. Listen, I'm sorry you guys had to come looking for me. I won't be so careless anymore, and from now on I won't wander so far from the rest of you. Maybe. . .Koga was right. . .maybe. . . I really AM a burden. . . " she mumbled, hugging her knees into her chest.

*BOP!*

"OW! What the hell, Miroku? Why'd you hit me with your staff?" she demanded, rubbing her sore head and glaring up at the frowning monk.

"I'm sorry, Trinity-chan, but I simply cannot allow you to continue to degrade yourself like this. You are NOT a hindrance on the rest of us simply because of the events of yesterday and today. We all have our own weaknesses, but we also all have our own strengths. That includes you. You can't let anyone else but yourself decide your own limits." He scolded, ruffling her hair affectionately. Trinity sighed.

"You're right."

"We all care about you, and we were all just scared for you. Even Koga. He told me when we went to look for you that he sees you as his little sister, and he hoped by saying you were going to drag us down, he could get you to go home back to our time where he thought you'd be safe. He was just as upset as the rest of us about not being able to help you." Kagome explained, hugging her friend.

"We're really the ones who should be apologizing to you, Trinity. We let ourselves get upset and feel guilty when you told us not to, and because of that, we made you upset, too." Shippo added, jumping onto Trinity's shoulder.

"We were wrong to go against your request and feel guilt over something we couldn't control. And we were also wrong to make you doubt yourself. Your limits are only what you make them to be, Sis. And like a wise man once said: "_It takes great strength of the body to overcome the obstacles of ones journey, but it takes great strength of heart to overcome the obstacles of the mind."_ Never lose faith in who you are. Never give up just because you fall. Pick yourself back up and improvise with the situation set before you." Alina said with a wink. Trinity smiled.

"Thanks a lot you guys. I feel like a real idiot for letting myself get all depressed like that. Hey, I know we should be looking for Naraku and whatnot, but do you think it'd be okay to take a day off tomorrow and just hang out? It's been a while since we've just hung out with each other and had fun." She said. Miroku, Shippo, and the other girls seemed happy about the idea; as well as Ginta and Hakakku. Inuyasha and Koga on the other hand. . .

"What? Are you nuts? We don't have time for that!" they said in perfect unison.

"Inuyasha, Koga, come on! We could really use a real rest. Especially after all that's happened in the last couple days. Hey, we're close to Kaede's village, right? Why don't we go back there on the way to where we're going and visit her? Alina, Trinity, what do you say we go home and get some stuff for s'mores?" the two sisters nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. I'll even ask mom if we can borrow the mini grill and we can have a barbeque." Alina said excitedly.

"I have some money put away. I was saving up for an mp3, but I really don't need one anymore, since Tina gave me her old one when she came to visit last month. I can use my money to buy some snacks and stuff." Trinity added.

"You guys can NOT be serious. . ." Inuyasha grumbled. Trinity smirked mischievously and winked at Kagome and the others before turning to Inuyasha with pleading eyes.

"Please, Inuyasha? I wouldn't be asking, but it's been almost a month since I've gone home with Kagome and Alina, and well. . . my arm still hurts a little." Inuyasha's eye and ears twitched. Kagome and Alina smirked at each other silently as if to say: "Gotcha!"

"F-fine. But only to get the stuff you need and check in with yer parents and whatever. Then we're comin' right back! Got it?" the school girls gave squeals of delight.

"Yes! Thank you, Inuyasha!" Alina said, jumping up and down like a lunatic and running up ahead. Inuyasha sighed and shot a slight glare at Trinity when everyone else had gone ahead.

"Thought you said you didn't want anyone to feel guilty about the arm thing…" he mumbled with a slight growl. Trinity smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, Inuyasha. I didn't mean to send you on a guilt trip. But my arm IS still hurting a little, and well. . .I like ramen and all, but I want a little AMERICAN junk food for once. Pizza, pasta. . . .stuff like that. I promise you won't regret this." She said. Inuyasha let out a small "feh" before walking ahead.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Kagome smiled and handed a plate of food to Sango before turning back to helping Alina turn over the pork ribs.

"I can't believe your mom bought us so many pork ribs and bottles of barbeque sauce." She said. Alina laughed.

"Well, when we told her we were feeding so many people, and there were now three wolf demons and five wolves with us. . . well, I guess she wanted to make sure we had enough for everyone and then some." She said.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

While her sister and her friends ate and shared campfire stories, Alina packed up some of the extra food and slipped away into the forest.

"What are you doing, Girl?" Alina jumped and glared.

"Don't sneak up on people, Sesshomaru-sama." She said with a sigh. Then, she held out the bag of food.

"Here. This is for you, Jaken, and Rin. I knew you wouldn't come eat dinner with us, so I brought you some. Think of it as a. . .a thank you gesture for training me these last few months."

"Big Sister, you came to visit!" Alina laughed as she was embraced by the eight year old.

"Hello, Rin. I brought food. Here." She said, handing the bag to Rin. When Rin held the bag out for Sesshomaru to take some, he declined.

"Girl, draw your Hoshigama." He said. Alina groaned.

"Are you kidding me? Now?" Sesshomaru drew his Tokijiin and Alina sighed and drew her sword as she was instructed.

"Do you think Hoshigama can withstand a blow from Tokijiin, though?" she asked as he charged at her.

Rin and Jaken watched the sparring match excitedly.

"Go Lord Sesshomaru!" Jaken cheered.

Alina gasped in surprise at Sesshomaru's sudden increase in speed and blocked swing after swing of the deadly Tokijiin.

{_Damn! He's too fast! Was he going easy on me all these months or something?_} she thought irritably as she dodged another attack and made an advance of her own.

"Wow…. Master Jaken, can you hear it?" Rin asked. Jaken looked at her in annoyance.

"What are you going on about now?" he asked irritably. Rin looked back at the sparring match between Sesshomaru and his blonde apprentice.

"It sounds like the swords are. . .singing. And the way Lord Sesshomaru and Big Sister are moving. . . doesn't it look like they're dancing?" she asked. Jaken looked back up at Sesshomaru and Alina.

"Hey, you're ri- . . .now hold on! Don't say something so ludicrous, Rin! Lord Sesshomaru doesn't DANCE! He fights like a true warrior!" he said. Rin sighed.

"You have NO imagination, Master Jaken." She stated matter-of-factly before focusing all her attention on the sword fight.

Alina gasped in pain as Tokijiin cut her in the shoulder, but her confidence and determination didn't waver. She forced her agility to increase, and when Sesshomaru made to attack again, she leapt over him and kicked him in the back, swinging her sword and stopping it at his throat.

"So," she said, panting, "Have I improved since we last trained, Sesshomaru-sama?" Sessomaru used the blade of his sword to push her own sword away before they both sheathed their weapons.

"You're still only an amateur, but. . .you are showing some promise." He said emotionlessly. Alina rolled her eyes when he turned away from her.

"I see. Well, I have to get back before my sister has a panic attack because I'm gone." She said, bowing respectfully.

". . . ." Sesshomaru said nothing as Alina left, and really; she didn't expect him to. After two months of secretly training with him, she was used to it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tsubakimaru slammed against the prison cell he was being held in.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

"Stop banging around, or Naraku will come down here." Tsubakimaru turned in surprise.

"Kagura, what are you doing here?" he growled. Kagura sighed and held up a prison key.

"What does it look like? I'm setting you free." She replied, unlocking the cell and opening the door. Tsubakimaru gave her a skeptical look.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity blushed slightly; somewhat regretting allowing Kagome to talk her and everyone else to play truth or dare.

"Wh-what?" she stammered. Kagome giggled.

"I asked who you have a crush on. Come on, you're the one who chose truth. Just spill it." Trinity thought a moment. Who DID she have a crush on? All the guys at school were too boring in her opinion; at least compared to the kind of guys she was used to by now. She thought about all the men she knew in the Feudal Era. Miroku? No way! He was a pervert! Ginta? No, he was; in her opinion; too timid about such things. Hakakku was nice, but he never really talked to her much. Sesshomaru? Well, Sesshomaru was handsome, but he was too cold for her taste, besides, she respected him and saw him more as a role model than a potential crush. Naraku? HELL NO! Sure, he was handsome (not that she'd tell anyone she thought that. EVER) but he was pure evil! She hated him! It came down to two guys: Koga and Inuyasha. Sure, she spent more time with Inuyasha; but she only thought of him as a best friend or a brother…right? Sighing, Trinity turned to Kagome.

"It's Koga. There. Happy now?" she growled. Inuyasha's ears twitched in slight annoyance, but he said nothing. Koga smirked.

"I'm flattered, but Kagome is the only girl for me." Trinity glared over at the arrogant wolf.

"I said I have a crush on you, not that I would want to be with you! There's more than one level of a crush, Koga!" she snapped, fuming. Koga rolled his eyes.

"Sure. Whatever you say." He muttered. Trinity ignored him.

"Sango, truth or dare?" she asked. The demon slayer thought a moment.

"Truth." She said. Trinity exhaled thoughtfully.

"Uhm….how long would you say you can hold the Hiraikotsu up in the air with both hands?" she asked.

"No longer than five to ten minutes at a time, depending on how much energy I have. Okay, Inuyasha, truth or dare?"

"I ain't playin'. You guys are gonna use this stupid game as an excuse to gang up on me, I know it." Inuyasha replied in irritation. Trinity frowned.

"Come on." She pleaded.

"Forget it. I ain't playin'. Drop it." Inuyasha snapped. Trinity stuck her tongue out at him, then crawled over to Koga and whispered something in his ear. Koga nodded at her and when she went back to her spot, he said,

"What's wrong, Mutt? You too scared to play? Maybe you're not man enough." Inuyasha's ears twitched in annoyance and he turned to Koga.

"Oh yeah? I'll show you, ya scrawny wolf! I'll play! I choose dare!" he exclaimed. Sango smirked evilly.

"Alright. . .I dare you. . .to kiss Kagome." Both Inuyasha and Kagome turned bright red.

"WHAT?" they exclaimed. But, despite Kagome and Inuyasha's objections and Koga's outbursts, Miroku forced the hanyou to kiss the girl.

(Trinity's PoV)

When I saw Miroku push Inuyasha into Kagome and make them kiss, my chest tightened. For some reason, it hurt to see them like that. Probably because I was jealous because Kagome got her first kiss with the guy she liked and it actually meant more than my accidental kiss with Koga, right? I mean, what else could it be? Inuyasha was like a brother to me, there's no way I'd see him as anything else. Plus, I guess I was still a little hurt about being rejected by Koga. Jerk. Sighing, I stood up.

"Guys, I'm going to go for a walk. I'll be back in a few minutes." I said. Koga also stood.

"I'll come too. I need to walk off that meal." He said. I shot a slight glare at him.

"Why do you gotta come with me? Take your walk somewhere else." I said with a frown.

(Reg. PoV)

Koga scoffed.

"And let you wander off again? I don't think so. I'm stayin' where I can keep an eye on you." He said, following her into the forest.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity shot a glare another glare at Koga before sitting by the stream.

"What's wrong? You're usually a lot more talkative than this."

"What do you care?" Trinity growled, pulling away when Koga reached for her arm. Koga sighed and sat next to her.

"Well. . .we're friends, aren't we?" Trinity looked up at him, somewhat surprised.

"You. . .really consider me as a friend?" she asked, blushing slightly. Koga gave her a strange look.

"Well, yeah. That, and part of my pack. You couldn't tell?" Trinity looked down at the ground and bit her lip.

"Well. . .no. You never really spoke to me much when we would run into each other. All you ever cared about was fighting with Inuyasha and flirting with Kagome. And anytime I'd try talking to you, I'd get ignored. And when you guys started traveling with us, it seemed like all WE would do is argue, too." She said with a shrug.

". . .Since when did you start liking me?" Koga asked. Trinity blushed and looked away from him.

"Since that day we got lost in the cave at the foot of Mount Fuji together." She replied quietly. Koga blushed slightly and rubbed the back of his head.

"I remember that day. Eheh. . .sorry again about that. It was kinda. . .my fault we ended up falling through that hole." He said. Trinity gave a small laugh.

"But if we hadn't fallen, we never would have seen how beautiful the glow of the crystals was." Koga smiled at the thought.

"Yeah. And you looked so. . .beautiful in the light. Almost like a goddess." Trinity blushed and turned to Koga.

"W-what?" she asked. Koga looked away, blushing.

"Uhm…err…well….I-I said you looked kinda pretty in the crystal light. N-not as radiant as Kagome would have looked, but. . ." he stammered, trailing off. Trinity sighed.

"Thanks for the compliment, I guess.. . .i should've known you'd bring Kagome up again…" She muttered, standing up. Koga looked up at her, completely clueless.

"What's wrong with you?" Trinity sighed.

"You're such a clueless moron, sometimes. Koga, how would YOU feel if Kagome were talking to you, and all she wanted to talk about was Inuyasha? That would make you mad, right?" Koga blinked and nodded. Trinity sighed.

"Well. . .that's how I feel during rare times like this when you actually talk to me. . .and all you talk about is Kagome. Look, I'm not going to deny my feelings for you, and I'm not going to jump the gun and say I'm in love with you, either. But I DO have feelings for you. And I would really appreciate it if you didn't always talk about Kagome."

"Well, I could tell you about the time. . .um…nevermind." Trinity arched an eyebrow.

"Koga. . ." she said warningly. Koga sighed.

"Promise you won't get too pissed since it wasn't me, but. . .uhm. . .a few days ago, I caught Sesshomaru's scent somewhere down by the hot springs around the time you and your sister went to take a bath." Trinity turned bright red. So, Sesshomaru saw. . . .?

"HE WHAT? I AM GOING TO KILL HIM!"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Alina looked up from setting the empty glass soda bottle on the ground.

"Why don't you come join us, Sesshomaru-sama? I know you're there." Inuyasha glared when his brother emerged from the forest.

"What the hell are YOU doing here, Sesshomaru?" he demanded. Sesshomaru didn't answer, he merely turned to Alina.

"Were you able to find out where she is hiding on your way back here?" he asked. Alina shook her head.

"I picked up her scent about six feet away from the edge of the forest, but I couldn't see her. It was already too dark." She replied.

"What the hell are you to yammerin' on about?" Inuyasha demanded angrily. Alina looked back at him.

"Inuhime. She's been following our groups for three days. I can sense someone else too, but I haven't tried finding them cuz they don't really pose much of a threat. Anyway, we were about to set up for a game of spin the bottle. You should join us, Sesshomaru-sama. TRINITY! KOGA! GET BACK TO CAMP! NOW!"

"I shall go fetch them for you."

(Inuhime's PoV)

""I shall go fetch them for you." I offered, finally revealing myself. I could see Inuyasha's eyes go wide; being as I wasn't wearing my mask. I almost laughed. Sesshomaru just turned to me; his unwavering emotionless expression still in his eyes.

"So I was right. You were indeed following us." He said. I nodded.

"For three days, just as Alina said. You look well, Brother." I said, inclining my head respectfully.

"I am NOT your brother, half breed wench." I sighed. Typical Sesshomaru.

"Forgive me, Sesshomaru-sama. I forgot that I lost the "privilege" of being called your sister with even distaste when I became a priestess. Speaking of sisters, how is Shiira? Oh that's right, you killed her when Izaiyoi died so she couldn't take Inuyasha in." I said bitterly. Normally, I was a nice person, but Sesshomaru was the one person besides Naraku who could make me turn into what the humans would call a "bitch" ….no dog pun intended.

". . . . ." Sesshomaru said nothing, but Inuyasha spoke.

"Who the hell are you? What the hell is going on?" he demanded. I scoffed. So typical of Sesshomaru to keep Inuyasha in the dark about things like this. I walked over to him.

"My name is Inuhime. Like you, I am a half demon born of a human woman and the late InuTaishio-sama. I have a twin brother named Inuboshi; though I do not know his whereabouts. I am older than you by ten months, and the circumstances of mine and Inuboshi's birth was one of. . .debt repaid. My mother wanted a child to love and look after, but had no desire of marriage. She saved InuTaishio-sama's life. In return, she asked that he impregnate her. He did, and she gave birth to my twin brother and myself. Not long after, he met Lady Izaiyoi and fell in love with her. You know the rest. When we were little, we met Shirra-nee-san and Sesshomaru-sama. They, like us; were twins. Shirra-nee-san would hug on us and say how cute we were. It was a bit overbearing, but at least she accepted us. Sesshomaru. . .not so much. When Shirra-nee-san heard that your mother had passed away, she wanted to take you in and raise you, but. . .Sesshomaru wouldn't hear of it. When he was unsuccessful in talking her out of it, he. . .killed her."

"THOUGHT he killed me, Little Sister."

(Reg PoV)

As if what was going on wasn't hard enough for everyone; especially Inuyasha; to understand, the new voice turned all heads. Sesshomaru's eye twitched slightly, but he remained as emotionless as always.

"So, you're alive, Shiira." The yokai woman had long silver hair down to her waist, pale skin, and bright gold eyes. Unlike Sesshomaru, she had no markings on her arms, and the crescent and stripes on her face were all deep violet. She wore a lavender silk kimono top with a pattern like Sesshomaru's, only white, and black hakama pants. She wore no shoes, and at her belt was a pure silver sword in a diamond sheath. Ignoring Sesshomaru, she walked over to Inuyasha. Dropping to her hands and knees, she said,

"Inuyasha. . .I'm sorry I couldn't be there when you needed me to be." Inuyasha looked away from her.

"It was outta yer hands. But. . . I gotta ask. . .where were you all this time; if you weren't dead?"

"She was in the same predicament YOU were in for fifty years. I sealed her to a tree with her Touketsubara; the sword at her waist. What I am wondering is how she got free." Sesshomaru said bluntly.

"I was freed by a certain raven haired hanyou three days ago." Shiira said, standing up. Inuhime gasped.

"You don't mean Inuboshi, do you?" Shiira nodded.

"Yes. He's on his way here. He'll catch up to us in three or four days. Possibly five, since he has little Seiran and Akemiko with him."

"Who are Seiran and Akemiko." Shiira smirked secretively.

"You'll see." She said with a wink.

"Hey. Enough chit chat. We can catch up later. Let's play that. . .Spin the Bottle thing Kagome and the others keep goin' on about. I wanna see how it goes." Inuyasha said. Shiira turned to Sesshomaru.

"You should play too. Who knows, you might score with that girl you've been training."

". . . . . . ."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity hid behind Koga and looked at the female wolf demons warily. One had pale skin, long black hair and lavender eyes. She wore a black armor chest plate and an ice blue wolf pelt skirt with black edges. The other had waist length black hair tinted with dark blue. Her skin was a shade lighter than Koga's and dark amber eyes. She wore also wore a black armor chest plate and had a black wolf pelt skirt with faded dark blue streaks. On her back was a pair of katana. Koga smiled at them.

"Hey, Snow; Ame. What took you so long to get back?" the wolf demon with the katana glared at him.

"Well, considering you sent me and Snow to scout Asagiri Island, and then joined up with this girl and the others, you shouldn't have expected us to get back any sooner." She replied irritably. Koga smiled apologetically.

"Yeah…sorry about that. Anyway, Trinity, this is Ame and Yuki; or Snow, as we call her. They're the only females left in our pack. Ame is Hakakku's mate, and Snow is Ginta's. The reason you never met them before is because they were always out scouting. So, shall we head back to the others?"

"Definitely! Let's go!" Snow said cheerfully.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Hey, don't start without us!" Kagome and the others looked up to see Trinity and Koga coming back; accompanied by two female wolf demons. Ginta and Hakakku wagged their tails and ran to greet their mates. When all introductions and explanations were out of the way, Trinity, Koga, Ame, and Snow sat to join the others in the game. Sesshomaru glared over at Ame.

"And here I was hoping I had seen the last of you during our encounter on the road to Kasasagi town." He remarked. Ame smirked.

"What's the matter, Sesshy? Didn't you miss me?" Sesshomaru made an irritated sound, making Snow giggle.

"Leave it to Ame to get a rise out of Sesshomaru." She said. Then. . .she saw Inuyasha.

"You! I'm gonna kill you!" She said, attacking him.

"What the hell did I do?"

"That boar was MY kill, and you stole it! Die, hanyou!"

"That was six months ago! And if you think you got what it takes to beat me, then bring it on!" Ame sighed and stood between the hanyou and her infuriated pack mate.

"That's enough you two. Sit down and play the game. Call a truce. NOW." Ame spoke with such a deadly quietness, if Trinity didn't know any better, she'd think Ame was a female version of Sesshomaru. Apparently Inuyasha and Snow noticed as well, because they begrudgingly called a truce and sat back down. Alina sighed.

"Alright, the game is simple; you spin the bottle in a circle and you have to kiss the member of the opposite sex that it lands on. If it lands on a member of the same sex; you don't have to kiss them, but you do have to either shake their hand or hug them; your choice. Sesshomaru-sama, where are you going?" Ame smirked as Sesshomaru stood.

"Maybe he's too scared to play." She remarked. Sesshomaru froze and sat back down, glaring daggers at the she-wolf the entire time.

"Alright Koga, you go first." Kagome said. Koga smirked.

"If I'm lucky, it'll land on you, Kagome." He said, spinning the bottle.

"Like hell, ya scrawny wolf!" Inuyasha growled. While the bottle spun, Kagome turned to Shiira.

"Are you really Sesshomaru's twin?" Shiira nodded.

"Regretably, Kagome-chan. Why?" she asked.

"You just seem so nice." Sango said. Shiira laughed.

"Well, I always was more. . .open minded than Sesshomaru. Human, demon, hanyou. We're all living beings aren't we? What should it matter that we're different? Why should half demons be hated because they're part of both worlds? It's something I never understood." She said with a shrug.

When the bottle stopped, both Alina and Koga groaned.

"Kagome, I know there's no re-spins allowed, but can he spin again….please?" the blonde girl pleaded. Kagome shook her head.

"Sorry. You have to kiss him."

"You suck." Alina said as she leaned over and gave Koga a swift peck on the lips before taking her turn and spinning the bottle.

(Shiira's PoV)

I inwardly smirked as I saw Sesshomaru's hand twitch when the wolf demon leaned in to kiss Alina; almost as though he wanted to reach for his sword. He would never admit it, but I could tell something inside him was telling him to court her. That something was being ignored, but I could tell by his reaction that sooner or later….something would happen.

(Reg. PoV)

When the bottle stopped, Alina felt as though her heart did too. She had to kiss Sesshomaru.

"I will not kiss a ¼-demon." He said bluntly. Ame and Kagome exchanged glances.

"What's wrong, Sesshomaru? Don't think you're man enough for her now that Koga's already kissed her?" Ame remarked. Sesshomaru shot her a glare, but stood and pulled Alina to her feet, pressing his lips to hers. Most of the others just gasped; while Inuyasha gagged. Alina's heart skipped a beat, and before she could register what she was doing, she had wrapped her arms around Sesshomaru's neck and pulled him closer to her. This seemed to shock everyone even more; Sesshomaru included. His eyes shot open and he pulled away from her. Alina; trying to deny that it hurt to see him glare at her like that; gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I got carried away." she said, sitting back down. When Sesshomaru refused to spin the bottle a second time, Kagome spun. As expected, it landed on Inuyasha. Blushing, the two shared a quick peck before Inuyasha reached for the bottle.

(Trinity's PoV)

I felt the same sting in my chest when Inuyasha and Kagome kissed. Why did I feel like this? Why did I hate seeing them together? Feeling somewhat nauseous, I stood up.

"I don't feel well, you guys, I think I'm going to go to bed." I said, walking into Kaede's hut to get my sleeping bag.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(Tsubakimaru's PoV)

How do I know you aren't taking me to a trap, Kagura?" I demanded as we flew. The demoness scoffed.

"You foolish hanyou! If I was going to set you up, why would I be flying you to Akebi village after setting you free? Here we are. Your daughters are in Kaede's village. If you find Inuyasha, you find them." She said as I got off of her feather.

"Kagura, why did you set me free?" I asked.

". . . .I just felt like it." She replied before taking off again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Naraku chuckled darkly.

"Excellent work, Kagura. Now we will know exactly what those fools are planning." Kagura nodded, but said nothing. Everything was going according to plan.

"Naraku, there's a human girl here to see you." Naraku looked up at Kanna in confusion.

"A girl? How did she survive my miasma?" he demanded. Kanna shook her head.

"I don't know. She wants to see you."

". . . . Send her in." Kanna nodded and left the room; returning a moment later with a seventeen year old girl with long brunette hair and dark blue eyes wearing a black HIM t-shirt, a pair of denim jeans, and dark blue flip flops.

"So, you're Naraku." She said.


	7. Chapter 6

Six: Tsubakimaru's Return and Sesshomaru's Punishment

Alina glared furiously at the dog yokai.

"Would you care to repeat that, Sesshomaru-sama?" she asked, temper rising.

"I said your sister is weak; more so than any human I've ever seen." He stated. Alina stood and slapped him across the face; earning her a gasp of astonishment from everyone around the camp fire. Seeing his eyes go red, Inuhime pulled a set of beads similar to Inuyasha's out of her bag. The beads were black and dark blue in color. Murmuring a swift incantation, she used her powers to put the beads around his neck.

"Subdue him, Alina! Hurry!" Without a second thought, Alina said,

"Sesshomaru, heel!"

*Wham!*

As Sesshomaru fell face down into the dirt, Inuyasha, Koga, Shiira, Snow, and Ame burst into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

"Serves you right!" Inuyasha said between laughs. Shiira looked down at her twin.

"I always told you that attitude of yours would come back to bite you, Brother." She told him, letting out another giggle. Sesshomaru stood, eyes glowing red once again.

"You damn wench! You will die for this!" As he charged at her, Alina glared at him and shouted,

"HEEL!"

*WHAM!*

"HEEL! HEEL! HEEL! HEEL! HEEL! NO ONE insults my sister!"

*WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!*

Yawning, Trinity walked over to where the group was.

"What are you guys doing over here?" Looking down at Sesshomaru, she added, "And what happened to HIM?" Alina scoffed.

"The arrogant prick insulted you, so I slapped him. He got all pissed, and Inuhime put a subduing spell on him and told me to subdue him, so I did.

"You. . . insolent. . .wench. . ."

"Sesshomaru, H-" Trinity didn't let her sister finish.

"Lina, stop it! If you keep doing it too many times at once, you'll kill him. That's enough for now." She said, pulling Sesshomaru to his feet. Sesshomaru jerked his arm away from her.

"Keep your hands off of me, Wench." He growled. He then turned to Alina.

"And you; you have quite a bit of nerve to disrespect someone who's been teaching you to use your sword properly; as well as you demonic powers. You aren't even demon enough to fight me, so you hide behind the powers of a hanyou miko." He said coldly. Alina clenched her fist and murmured something, causing her hand to light up with a black and green fox fire. Before she could stop it, the flame flew from her fist and hit Sesshomaru. The effect was instant. His eyes turned dark brown, his markings faded, his claws turned to regular fingernails, and his hair became black as night. Everyone's jaws dropped, and Alina backed away from him. She turned him into a human.

"Oh. . .crap. . . ."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Who are you?" the girl walked a few steps closer to Naraku and knelt before him.

"My name is Tina. I want to pledge my fealty to you, Naraku-sama." Naraku scoffed.

"What makes you think I have need of your services?" he sneered.

"Because Trinity and Alina won't attack their own cousin; and they won't let anyone else attack me either. I am the perfect shield." Tina replied. Naraku gave her a skeptical glare and hauled her to her feet.

"What reason do you have to help me if you're related to those quarter demons?" he demanded. Tina looked down.

"Because Trini tells me everything. She told me about you. And. . .even though she told me what you did to everyone. . . I still found myself falling in love with you. Please, all I ask is that you let this foolish girl love you; even though you'll never love me back. Let me be your leverage against Trinity and the others. And in return, I'll do whatever you tell me to. I am your servant."

"Naraku, you can't trust her." Kagura said. Naraku looked into Tina's eyes. Being a master of deception, he could tell when someone else was lying. And when he looked into the human girl's eyes, he saw only honesty.

"Kagura, go find this girl something to change into." He ordered. Then, he turned back to Tina.

"I think I know the perfect job for you…Tina. Sit." He said. Tina sat down and he sat across from her.

"What do you want me to do?" the girl asked. Naraku held out a glowing object to her.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked. Tina shook her head.

"No, Naraku-sama." She replied.

"You say Trinity and Alina won't allow harm to come to you because you're their cousin. Well, you will make a perfect vessel for my heart. Lay back." Tina nodded and did as she was told.

"This is going to feel strange, but you must remain perfectly still." Naraku commanded her.

"Yes, Naraku-sama." She said. Inhaling deeply, Naraku took the glowing object and placed it inside the girl's body. She gasped at the feeling, but didn't move. When he was finished, he ordered her to get up. When she stood, she asked,

"What do you have planned for me now?" Naraku smirked.

"You will see when Inuyasha and the others come here." He said darkly. Tina nodded.

(Tina's PoV)

I hoped my plan would work. I knew that even if it did, Trini and Lina would still be pretty pissed at me. So for me, it was going to be a lose AND win situation. Lose, because Trini and Lina were going to have one hell of a grudge against me, win because I was going to be able to say I changed Naraku. Well, that's only if my plan worked. If my plan DIDN'T work, I'd probably just end up saying 'hell with it' and let Inuyasha and the others kill me while I still had Naraku's heart in my body. But seriously I did hope that Naraku would see the error of his ways.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Three days had passed since the incident with Sesshomaru and Alina, and although his party had joined the others, it was only so he could make Alina change him back and remove the cursed beads. The two were no longer on speaking terms, and her training with him had halted. She regretted doing what she did, but pride kept her from trying to make amends. After all, it was HIS arrogance that got him into trouble in the first place.

Trinity's breath hitched in her throat as she looked out towards the rice field the group was passing. She stopped and looked out. A feeling of familiarity and comfort came over her. The scent she picked up was one she would never mistake. Without a word to the others, she ran down into the field and practically tackled the fox hanyou that was resting there.

"Father!" Tsubakimaru's eyes went wide as he embraced his daughter.

"Trinity, I missed you so much."

"Dad!" the fox hanyou let out an "oof" sound when his other daughter embraced him.

"Alina, Trinity, it feels so good to hold you again." He said. When he looked up at Inuyasha and the others, he motioned them over. When he set eyes on Sesshomaru, he sighed.

"Alright which one of you girls-"

"Lina did it." Trinity said quickly. Tsubakimaru sighed again.

"I think it's time I taught you girls how to use and control your fox magic." Ame blinked.

"So…you're Tsubakimaru, huh? I hate to tell you, but since you've been away, another hanyou has taken your reputation of Strongest Half Demon Alive." She said, nodding towards Inuyasha. Tsubakimaru laughed.

"I honestly don't mind. That wasn't a title I intended to earn, anyway. So, Sesshomaru-sama, what did you do to make Alina lose her temper and hex you this way?" he asked. Sesshomaru scoffed and turned away.

"Let's just say, he made her mad and leave it at that." Kagome and Snow said in unison. Tsubakimaru let out another sigh.

"I see. I suppose you're all looking for Naraku. I can take you to where he is, but only after I've trained my daughters. Sesshomaru will be stuck like that otherwise."

"I think it's an improvement. Why change him back?"

"Inuyasha, sit."

*Wham*

"What the hell Kagome?"

"Don't be so rude Inuyasha!" Kagome scolded, glaring back at the irritated hanyou.

**A/N: Sorry it was so short. I was still kind of worn out from writing chapter 5. The next chapter will be longer I promise.**

**Naraku: By the way, spoilers. Tina-**

**mewtwofangirl: *covers his mouth* Quiet you. *glare***

**Inuyasha: What? We all know that you're gonna-**

**Kagome: Sit boy!**

***Wham!***

**mewtwofangirl: No giving the readers spoilers! Idiots! *sigh* Men….**


	8. Chapter 7

Seven: Training, Inuboshi's Arrival, and Alina's Confession

"Hahahahahaha! I still can't believe it! It's too funny! Hahahaha!" Snow said, giggling uncontrollably. Alina frowned at her.

"I hardly think the situation I put Sesshomaru-sama in is funny. Man. . .and I thought mom had a temper. . ." turning to her father, she quickly added. "D-don't tell her I said that!" Tsubakimaru laughed.

"I won't, I won't." he said, turning back to converse with Miroku. Alina sighed.

{_Damn it. . . I really need to indulge in the art of self-control…._} she thought.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

(Mysterious Person's PoV)

I observed the strange pack I had been tracking for the past month and a half with curiosity. There were two inu hanyou and one kitsune hanyou, two inu yokai, a kitsune yokai child, a human child, a human girl and two quarter demons wearing strange clothes, a monk, a demon slayer, an imp demon, a two headed dragon demon….thing, five wolf demons and five wolves. And nearby, I could smell another inu hanyou; probably related to the other two inu hanyou and yokai that were in this odd group. There was also another wolf demon somewhere close by; but not as close as the third inu hanyou. I picked up the faint scent of wolf demon cubs as well; somewhere near the hidden inu hanyou. I knew that they sensed me, but I wanted to wait a while longer before I made myself known to them.

(Reg. PoV)

Trinity looked up; a confused expression on her face. She could have sword she'd heard a child whimpering, but when she looked around to check on Rin and Shippo, they were laughing and playing together. Shaking her head and brushing it off as nothing, she prepared to continue her task of washing the laundry; but stopped when she heard the sound again. Sighing, she walked over to Inuhime and Ame.

"Hey, you guys, I heard something over there. Since everyone else is busy right now, will you two come with me to investigate? I don't think I should go alone." she asked. Ame and Inuhime exchanged looks and shrugged.

"Sure, I guess. We weren't really doing anything anyway." Ame said, standing.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Trinity gasped in surprise as something scratched her across the chest the moment she entered the forest.

"Yeowch! What the hell?" she growled, drawing her OniKaze; her sword. Looking up, Ame growled and drew her own katana. When they made to attack the unseen enemy, Inuhime stopped them.

"Wait, don't attack!" she said, then, turning to the bushes, she called out to the unseen attacker. "Inuboshi, we mean no harm to you, nor the young that travel with you. Come out and return with us to our camp, Brother." She said. The three girls heard a sigh from the shrubbery as a young hanyou man emerged. He had long black hair, black dog ears, and golden eyes. He wore a dark blue kimono and a bandana on his forehead.

"It's been a long time, Inuhime." He said. Ame looked around quizzically.

"I smell wolf demon cubs." She said. Inuboshi nodded and turned to the large tree behind him.

"Akemiko, Seiran, come on out now. It's safe. These people are not enemies." He said. Two wolf demon children no older than five or six stepped out from behind the tree. The little girl had semi-curly midnight blue hair, tan skin, and sakura pink eyes. She wore a silver wolf skin top and matching mini skirt with sky blue markings and a slight sparkle to them. In her hair was a white rose. The little boy had shaggy black hair with white streaks, pale skin, and crimson eyes. He wore a small black armor chest plate and a black wolf skin 'skirt' with red markings. Inuboshi looked up at the girls.

"The boy is Seiran, and the girl is Akemiko. I found them and took them in as my own cubs. If any of your pack mates tries to hurt them, I will not hesitate to attack. Do you understand?" Trinity smiled reassuringly at him.

"Don't worry. No one will hurt them. But uhm. . .right now, you may not want to let them talk to your brother Sesshomaru. My sister accidentally turned him human; among other things, and he's kind of having a man period right now." She said semi jokingly. An uncontrollable giggle was heard behind them as she said this, and when the girls turned around, they saw Snow kneeling on the ground, clutching her stomach as she laughed.

"Man period? That's a good one! I AM totally teasing him with it!" she said between laughs. Ame sighed.

"You're just going to make him bitchier…" she muttered. Inuhime giggled a bit and sighed.

"Come on you guys, we should get going back. Trinity, if your sister notices we're gone, she'll have a panic attack and think we all got eaten by Naraku or something." She said.

"Or your PMSing older brother…." Trinity muttered, earning her a laugh from Snow, Inuhime, and Inuboshi; a light chuckle from Ame, and an all out confused look from the wolf demon twins.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Sesshomaru glared when he saw the girls return with the raven haired hanyou.

"I thought you'd be dead by now." He remarked. Inuboshi smirked.

"I can kick your ass right now, and YOU'RE trashing on ME, Girly Man? Really?" he remarked. Sesshomaru growled at him.

"You insolent half breed, I'll-" Ame smirked.

"Careful, Sesshy. Wouldn't want to break one of those delicate little human fingernails of yours, do you?" she teased. Sesshomaru growled a warning at her before turning away. Alina blinked and looked back and forth between them.

"Okay, I gotta know, why the hell is it you try to kill ME for disrespecting you, but Ame-san can get away with it without getting HER ass kicked?" she demanded, arms crossed. Sesshomaru scoffed.

"Because for one, you are a quarter demon; the spawn of a hanyou, and you need to learn your place. Secondly, she isn't worth my time." He stated flatly. Alina snorted.

"Or she's the only woman alive who could actually kick your ass…." She muttered. Sesshomaru glared at her.

"What was that?" he growled. Alina shook her head.

"No-nothing." She said quickly. Sesshomaru scoffed and turned away again. Alina sighed sadly.

{_He's really mad at me. I'm surprised I could even get a word out of him. Maybe I should talk to him… but…what should I say?_} She thought. When the others had gone to introduce Inuboshi and the twins to the rest of the group, Alina sighed deeply and sat down beside Sesshomaru. He glared at her.

"I have no desire to converse with you, so save your useless words, Wench." He snapped. Alina flinched and sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"Sesshomaru-sama. . .please, hear me out. I'm…I'm sorry for all that I did to anger you. I was just upset by what you said about Trinity. I guess I overreacted. I promise that I'll work extra hard during training with my father so I can change you back into a demon. Sesshomaru-sama, can I ask you something?"

"What is it now?" Sesshomaru asked impatiently.

"Do you. . .plan to kill me when I change you back?" Sesshomaru scoffed.

"Unfortunately for me, as long as I wear this accursed necklace, that seems impossible." He replied bluntly. Alina bit her lip; as if she was thinking about something. Then, she reached over to remove the necklace; but Sesshomaru grabbed her wrists roughly.

"What do you think you're doing, Wench?" he hissed. Alina frowned.

"I was only going to remove the-"

"Do you think me a fool?" Alina sighed in annoyance; then, feeling bold, she smirked.

"Do you really want me to answer that, Sesshomaru-sama?" she asked, stealing a quick kiss. Surprised, Sesshomaru pushed her away from him and let go of her.

"Where may I ask did you get the nerve to do that?" he demanded, glaring. Alina smirked mischievously.

"I was feeling brave and I wanted to do it before you had the reflexes to attack me or dodge my movements." She said with a wink. Sesshomaru scoffed.

"And what exactly was the purpose of that action, Wench?" he demanded. Alina smiled secretively.

"I'll never tell." She said, sticking her tongue out and running over to join her sister and the others. Sesshomaru scoffed.

". . . .Foolish wench…." He muttered.

"Lord Sesshomaru! Lord Sesshomaru!" Sesshomaru turned to his ward.

"What is it Rin?" he asked. Rin smiled and held up a bunch of flower necklaces (large ones; like leis) she had made.

"Aren't these necklaces pretty? I was working on them ALL day!" she said cheerfully.

". . . ."

"Rin! How many times must I tell you not to bother Lord Sesshomaru with such childish nonsense!" Jaken snapped. Rin looked down sadly.

"I-I'm sorry, Lord Sesshomaru." She said. Sesshomaru glared at Jaken.

"Jaken, be quiet." He said. Rin smiled.

"Lord Sesshomaru, Do you think I should give one to everyone as a present?" she asked. Sesshomaru looked up at the sunset.

". . .Do what you want." He said.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Ame gasped in slight surprise as she felt someone slip something around her neck. When she looked down, she saw that is was a dark blue and white flower necklace. She gave a small laugh as Rin slipped one with yellow and white flowers around her mate's neck.

"She sure is something; to be able to change Sesshy so much." She said, smiling and shaking her head. Hakakku looked up at his mate.

"You're right. I remember we heard a lot of things about Sesshomaru killing humans before he started traveling with that girl. Then again, I don't think it was her alone." Ame blinked.

"What do you mean, Love?" she asked. Hakakku glanced Alina and Trinity's way.

"The few times me, Ginta, and Koga happened to run into Inuyasha and the others the same time Sesshomaru's group did, I noticed that Trinity and Alina were never scared of him, and they were always so casual when talking to him; well, mostly casual. They call him 'Sesshomaru-sama'; but at the same time they talk to him like he's an old friend of theirs or something." Ame shrugged.

"Maybe so. Either way, I suppose it doesn't matter. It was just a random passing thought, really. What I'm wondering is; when we find Naraku, will we finally kill him, or will he escape. . .again?" she asked. Hakakku shrugged.

"Don't know. But I do know one thing. It would be a good idea for the rest of us to train while Alina and Trinity are training with Tsubakimaru-san. That way, we'll all be better prepared to fight." Ame nodded in agreement.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Focus! Feel the fox fire within you!" Trinity closed her eyes at her father's instruction, trying to reach out to the demon blood within her.

"Wow, impressive for your first try, Trinity!" At the sound of her sister's praise, the red haired girl opened her eyes and looked down to see a red and silver flame in her hands.

"So. . .now what do I do with it?" she asked. Tsubakimaru examined it.

"Hmm. . .Try expanding it from the size of a baseball to maybe the size of your desktop tower." He suggested. Trinity nodded and closed her eyes. She could feel the flame start to expand, but…

"Look out!" Trinity gasped as something hit her back and caused her to lose control of the fox fire, making it separate and shoot out into all directions.

"Yeow! What the hell?" Trinity winced.

"Sorry, Inuyasha! Are you okay?" she called.

"I'm fine, except you tried to singe my damn foot off! Watch where the hell you're aiming, damn it!" Trinity frowned.

"I said I was sorry! It was an accident!" she said defensively.

"So what? You still-!"

"Sit boy!"

*Wham!*

"What the hell did you do that for, Kagome?" Inuyasha growled, glaring up at the raven haired girl. Kagome put her hands on her hips.

"Don't yell at Trinity like that! She said it was an accident, and she apologized! It wasn't her fault! One of the wolf twins accidentally bumped her." She scolded.

"Feh. Whatever. That's hardly an excuse. She's been training with her old man for three days, she should have more control over-"

"Sit."

*Wham*

"Inuyasha, Trin and I don't have as much demon blood in us as you do. And I was training longer than she was. Can't you cut her some slack?" Alina said. Inuyasha sighed.

"Fine. Whatever." He said, getting up and stomping off. When Trinity moved to follow him, her father stopped her.

"Best leave him be for now, Sweetheart. Inuyasha's always had a bit of a temper; as you've realized by now. Let him cool down. For now, go spar with your sister." He said. Trinity wanted to protest, but someone else did so for her.

"Wait, I want to spar with Trinity-chan! I'm bored!" Trinity looked at Snow and arched an eyebrow.

"Are you sure you want to spar with me? You saw what I accidentally did to Inuyasha. I'm kind of a walking disaster right now."

"Well, Snow is a walking disaster all the time, so it evens out." Koga joked; earning him a glare from said female wolf demon. Trinity sighed.

"Not funny, Koga. I'm serious. Anything bad that can happen probably WILL happen." She insisted. Snow scoffed.

"Please, you're just scared to fight a REAL demon." She joked. That did the trick.

"Oh HELL no! Draw your sword, She Wolf!" Trinity growled, unsheathing her OniKaze. Snow smirked playfully.

"Bring it on, Vixen." Trinity readied her sword and charged at the wolf demoness with it, only to have Snow swing her own blade and knock the red haired girl back a few feet from the collision of the blades. Trinity narrowed her eyes; determined to win. She charged again, only to have her sword knocked away by her opponents blade as she received a kick in the stomach. Trinity groaned slightly and wiped the dirt and blood from the scrape in her lip and stood again; this time holding up a hand to tell Snow she was calling a brief time out. Snow rolled her eyes as Trinity ran over to her backpack and pulled out her mp3 player. Putting her ear buds in, turning the volume up all the way, and clipping the device to her belt, Trinity picked up her sword and nodded; indicating she was ready. Snow shook her head.

"How is THAT little device going to help?" she asked. Trinity smirked and pressed play.

"You'll see." She said, charging again.

**_Show me how to lie  
You're getting better all the time  
And turning all against the one  
Is an art that's hard to teach  
Another clever word  
Sets off an unsuspecting herd  
And as you step back into line  
A mob jumps to their feet_**

Snow gasped at Trinity's increase in speed and stamina as she blocked the younger girl's sword with her own. Growling in agitation, she jumped and tried to attack Trinity from behind.****

**_Now dance, fucker, dance  
Man, he never had a chance  
And no one even knew  
It was really only you_**

Catching on to Snow's strategy, Trinity did a swift jump and back flip over the wolf demon, dodging her blade. Alina's breath caught in her throat as she watched the two.

{_Who thought Trinity had THIS much potential as a fighter? She's almost as fast as Snow is!_} she thought in disbelief.

**_And now you steal away  
Take him out today  
Nice work you did  
You're gonna go far, kid_******

Trinity swung her blade again, making a loud ring sound throughout the clearing as steel hit steel; crying out in cold and pleasured agony at the impact. Snow swung her blade and managed to make a small cut in Trinity's uniform sleeve, but the red haired girl managed to move just quick enough to avoid getting cut herself.

**_With a thousand lies  
And a good disguise  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
When you walk away  
Nothing more to say  
See the lightning in your eyes  
See 'em running for their lives_**

Trinity dashed to Snow's side and swung her blade to knock Snow's own sword out of her hand, but she was unsuccessful, as Snow managed to force her back with a powerful swing. When Trinity was off her balance, Snow decided to make her move.

**_Slowly out of line  
And drifting closer in your sights  
So play it out I'm wide awake  
It's a scene about me  
There's something in your way  
And now someone is gonna pay  
And if you can't get what you want  
Well it's all because of me_**

Now dance, fucker, dance  
Man, I never had a chance  
And no one even knew  
It was really only you

Trinity growled in aggravation and jumped back as Snow attempted to trip her.

"Nice try, but you gotta be a little quicker than that, Snow!" she said, swinging her blade again. Snow laughed.

**_And now you'll lead the way  
Show the light of day  
Nice work you did  
You're gonna go far, kid  
(Trust, deceived)_**

With a thousand lies  
And a good disguise  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
When you walk away  
Nothing more to say  
See the lightning in your eyes  
See 'em running for their lives

"And they call ME cheeky? Haha. You're certainly confident, but remember, until you knock me to the ground or knock my sword outta my hand, you haven't won!" she said, attacking again. Trinity gasped and struggled to block the older girl's movements with her sword. She was surprised that Snow's agility had increased; she had thought Snow was using her all from the beginning. Trinity gave a small scoff at her own stupidity. She had nearly forgotten one of the most important things her father had taught her and Alina: NEVER underestimate an enemy; or in this case; a sparring opponent.

**_Now dance, fucker, dance  
He never had a chance  
And no one even knew  
It was really only you_**

So dance, fucker, dance  
I never had a chance  
It was really only you

Trinity decided to push herself past her current limits; trying to see if she could surpass Snow's speed. Moving behind the wolf demon, Trinity raised her sword to the sky. It began glowing a bright blue; making everyone stare in shock.

**_With a thousand lies  
And a good disguise  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
When you walk away  
Nothing more to say  
See the lightning in your eyes  
See 'em running for their lives_**

"Oh ancestors, hear my cry; bring down thy tidal malice upon my enemies!" she cried.

**_Clever alibis  
Lord of the flies  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
Hit 'em right between the eyes  
When you walk away  
Nothing more to say  
See the lightning in your eyes  
See 'em running for their lives_**

Snow gave a startled yelp when a small tsunami appeared out of nowhere and fell down upon her; knocking her sword out of her hand and drenching her from head to toe in water. Trinity dropped her sword and fell to her hands and knees; breathing heavily in exhaustion. Alina ran over to her sister and knelt beside her.

"Trinity, what in the HELL was THAT? How did you do that?" she asked. Trinity exhaled tiredly and shook her head.

"I don't know." She then looked up in Snow's direction. "Are you okay?" she asked. Snow wrung her hair out and pouted irritably.

"I don't know how in the heck you did that, but THAT WAS CHEATING!" she exclaimed, pointing at Trinity accusingly.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

For the most of the next two days, Trinity was bombarded with questions; mostly on where she learned to do what she did. Time and time again, Trinity would have to assure the group that she didn't know how she did it, especially since her sword was called the OniKAZE; which meant demon WIND.

"How the hell WATER can come from a sword called WIND; I'll never know." She said. Tsubakimaru puffed on his pipe thoughtfully.

"Well, the swords that you, Alina, and I have were your grandfather's before us. Just because he named the swords the way he did doesn't mean that the names have anything to do with the elements they were named after. I don't particularly WANT to; and I don't think Inuyasha would appreciate the detour; but we may have to go pay him a visit to find out what's going on." He said somewhat boredly. Inuyasha looked at him in irritation.

"We are NOT going to see some old fox demon, dammit! We have an objective!" he snapped. Ame bopped him on the back of the head.

"Show some respect, you air-headed hanyou! From how the stories go, Tsubasuke-sama was supposedly a close friend of the late Inutaishio…YOUR father!" she said scoldingly. Inuyasha scoffed.

"Feh. Whatever. Why should I care?" he grumbled. Inuboshi sighed.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Inuyasha on this one." He said.

"Maybe . . .Trini just had some strength she didn't know about and it was only awakening in our sparring match." Snow said with a shrug. Trinity narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Who said you could call me 'Trini'?" she said with a pout.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Alina jumped and looked away.

{_Crap! He caught me staring again! . . . oh crap! He's coming over here!_} The blonde girl gave a startled yelp when she felt Sesshomaru grab her arm and haul her to her feet.

"If there is something you wish to say, then SAY it, Wench." He said impatiently. Alina's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the deadly look in his eyes as she pulled away.

"You want me to say what I wish to say? Fine! I am SICK of your arrogant, "I'm-better-than-you-because-I'm-a-full-demon" attitude! Look, I am sorry I turned you into a f***ing human, okay! But I don't know what the hell you expect from me! I've been training to change you back! What else do you want from me? What the hell else do I have to f***ing DO to get you to talk to me CIVILLY again? I swear, sometime I wonder how the HELL I managed to fall in love with a stuck up prick like you!" she snapped. Everyone's jaws dropped as they watched her storm off to the other side of the hill.

**A/N: Okay, that's it for chapter 7! ^^ hope you enjoyed it. And for those of you who think it wasn't fair that I "over powered" Trinity in her fight against Snow, don't worry, Snow gets Trinity back for it later, lol XD. Oh! And for those of you who couldn't get this from the story itself: the reason I have the lyrics for "You're Gonna Go Far Kid" by the Offspring strung out through the fight is because that's the song Trinity is listening to. ^^; and…I was kinda listening to it too so I could write the fight scene without getting stuck. Plus…I needed more words to make the chapter longer, lol, JK! ^o^**


	9. Chapter 8

Eight: Surprises, Fights, and Breeze

Naraku opened his eyes slowly and looked over at the girl whose innocence he had taken the night before. She lay naked beside him, still sleeping, and from her relaxed expression, he could tell she was having a good dream. When he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes, she stirred.

"Good morning, Naraku-sama." She murmured tiredly.

"Sleep well, Tina?" he asked, smirking because he already knew the answer. The teenager narrowed her eyes at him slightly.

"With all due respect, Naraku-sama, you know damn well how I slept. You seduced me into coming into your room and then you raped me; keeping me awake half the night." Naraku chuckled in dark amusement.

"I don't believe the term "rape" is an accurate term for what we did last night if the "victim" is willing." He remarked; putting his kimono back on. He then tossed hers to her. Sighing, Tina slipped the dark violet garment on and tied it shut.

"So, what will you have me do today, Naraku-sama?" she asked. Naraku turned to her.

"For the time being, I want you to remain here; where you'll be safe. You are not only the vessel for my heart, but as of last night," he touched the bite mark scar he had left on her shoulder, "you are my mate; my leverage to defeat Inuyasha and the others. And also, I can't afford to have you strain yourself. You'll lose it." Tina looked at him in confusion.

"What are you talking….?" She trailed off for a moment, then her eyes went wide.

"Wait a minute! Are you saying I'm-?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Since the incident of Alina's outburst, she and Sesshomaru were completely back on "Silent Treatment" terms; HIM being on the receiving end. Each time he would come near her, she would threaten to say the word "Heel" and he would begrudgingly back off. Both Alina and her sister had gotten better at using their powers; which meant Alina was getting closer to being able to change Sesshomaru back into a yokai. Not that she really WANTED to; not right away. She wanted him to see how wrong it was of him to be so prejudice towards Humans (Rin seemed to be the only exception to this) and Hanyou. When he realized the error of his ways, THEN she would change him back…maybe.

Trinity sighed. Kagome and Inuyasha had been arguing more and more since Inuboshi arrived. (All Inuboshi would do is throw out an awkward compliment and a shy thanks for Kagome's cooking, and Inuyasha would go ballistic about it). And today was worse than usual.

"SIT! SIT! SIT! SIT!"

*WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!*

Trinity winced.

"Uhm….Kagome," she started.

"SIT! SIT! SIT!"

*WHAM! WHAM! WHAM!*

"Kagome, I think that's enough." Trinity tried again. Again, she was ignored.

"SIT! SIT! SI-"

*WHAM! WHAM!*

Trinity lost her cool then.

"I SAID STOP IT, KAGOME! DON'T YOU THING YOUR OVERREACTING JUST A LITTLE **FUCKING **BIT? DID IT EVER OCCUR TO YOU THAT IT HURTS HIM WHEN YOU DO THAT? I mean, I understand sometimes he deserves it once or twice; but not TEN FUCKING TIMES IN A ROW!" she screeched. Everyone stood silent then. Even Inuyasha was too shocked for words. NO ONE in the group had EVER heard Trinity go off like that. Sure, she would get huffy with some of them from time to time since Koga's pack joined the group, but she had NEVER been so furious she would yell and swear at anyone. The tension rose, and glancing over at Kagome, Alina could tell that the dark haired girl wasn't sure whether to get angry and yell back, or cry because on of her best friends just screamed at her. An uneasy silence fell on the group.

"Excuse me. If I am interrupting, then I'll leave, but surly pack mates with a bond as strong as yours don't fight?" Both Kagome and Trinity jumped and turned to see a female wolf demon standing in front of them; examining them curiously. She had dark blood red hair with a black ink-like streak trailing down the back of it and magenta eyes. Her hair trailed down to her feet and her skin was of fair tone. She wore an outfit similar to any other wolf demon, only it was rusty red with black and navy blue smudges. At her belt was a katana.

"Who are you?" Ame asked. The new wolf demon woman smiled.

"My birth name is Kaze; but I prefer people to call me Breeze." She said. She then let out a sigh and shook her head.

"I have to say, I've honestly seen NEWBORNS with a better idea of what they want. . .really, human females are so indecisive, especially when it comes to picking their mates." She commented. All the humans and Inuyasha (well all the humans but Sesshomaru; he's not really human) seemed to become somewhat flustered and embarrassed by that remark.

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" Kagome demanded. Breeze shrugged.

"You look at the silver haired hanyou like you're interested in him, but you look at the raven haired hanyou the same way. The friend that got cross with you looks at the wolf demon alpha like she's interested in him; but she never does anything to strengthen her bond with him; friendship or otherwise. And. . ." she turned to Sesshomaru and Alina.

"And YOU courted her, but you did not mark her and claim her as your mate, Sesshomaru-sama. I thought inu yokai and those like them were more possessive of their pack; the ones they take, especially." Everyone stared at an embarrassed Alina and an irritated Sesshomaru for a moment before slowly turning to look at Tsubakimaru and moving away from him slightly. The fox hanyou was NOT pleased in the slightest. His eyes went from their usual blue-green to dark crimson; darker even than Breeze's beautiful hair.

"Sesshomaru. . .you. . .slept with my daughter. . . ?" he growled, fists clenched. Sesshomaru scoffed.

"What does it matter to a hanyou like you, Tsubakimaru? It isn't as though I marked her as my mate. What happened between us was completely casual and meant nothing." Alina smacked her forehead. If Sesshomaru thought that comment was going to help either of them get out of the grave Breeze had just thrown the pair of them in, he couldn't be more wrong.

"I'll KILL you!" Alina gasped. She knew that tone. It was his "I mean what I say" voice. The tone he usually used when he was threatening to punish her or Trinity if they didn't mind him or their mother.

"Father, please don't!" she exclaimed, using her sword to block the strike of her father's. Tsubakimaru closed his eyes and exhaled. When he opened them again, they had returned to their natural color and he re-sheathed his katana. He then glared at Sesshomaru furiously.

"Be lucky that even though she means nothing to you, my daughter loves you, Sesshomaru. I spared you for HER." He growled, walking away. Kagome cleared her throat.

"So, uhm, Breeze, right?" Breeze nodded and Kagome continued. "Why were you following us?" she asked. Breeze shrugged.

"I thought you guys were an interesting looking pack. I mean, it's not everyday you see a variety of pure blooded yokai, hanyous, and humans traveling together. I wanted to learn more about you, and possibly join you." She said boredly. Sango approached her.

"Then why didn't you just approach us directly before? Why hide and follow us?" she asked. Breeze shrugged once more.

"I didn't feel like then was the right time, and I probably would have waited a little longer, but I heard all the yelling, and I find an excessive amount of negative energy at to be an annoyance and a disruption to the balance of the universe. That's my reason for wanting to kill the demon called Naraku. He upsets the balance of things too much, it's really irritating. Call me a perfectionist if you like, but it's just how I've calculated things." She said with a yawn. Inuyasha growled in annoyance and stood up.

"Come on, we're not really gonna let ANOTHER damn wolf join us, are we?" he asked in disbelief. Inuboshi turned to him.

"Why shouldn't we, Brother? She's pretty smart, and with all the airheads; you and me included; I think we need some more intelligence on our side. Besides, she's kind of cute." He said.

*Thwack!*

Inuboshi winced.

"What the hell was that for?" he demanded, rubbing his sore cranium. Inuyasha scoffed in disgust.

"I can NOT believe you and I have the same blood! No way in he-" Trinity sighed and rubbed her temples.

"You know what, Kagome, you haven't killed him yet, and all men are idiots. Please say it." She muttered. Kagome exhaled.

"I agree with you on THAT. Inuyasha, sit." She said.

*Wham*

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tina sat down; her head spinning. Naraku hadn't said it out right; but she knew EXACTLY what he was trying to tell her…she was pregnant with his child. And now; there was a fifty-fifty chance this would either help HER with her plan to change him, or merely help HIM with his plan to get at Trinity, Alina, and the others. Either way; when she made up her mind to do ANYTHING she could to make him change his ways, the words "pregnant", "baby", and "motherhood" never ONCE crossed her mind. She let out a low groan.

"Crap….."


End file.
